


How Brendon Almost Got Everyone Killed

by frankiesin



Series: The Marching Band AU [7]
Category: Bandom, Mindless Self Indulgence, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Brendon Urie is a bisexual slut, Brendon and Lindsey versus the Dicksquad, Dallon doesn't get paid enough for this shit, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Homecoming, Homophobic Slurs, Lindsey is queen of the lesbians, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nerds vs Jocks, Non-binary Gerard Way, Other, Pining, awesome friends, the cliche Asshole Jocks trope, transphobic slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-05-19 19:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5978446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brendon Urie should have never been allowed to help Lindsey with her "Get back at the football team for being assholes to Gee" plot, because Brendon doesn't know how to do anything quietly. And Brendon doesn't know how to do anything without dragging Dallon into his shit.</p><p>(Can be read apart from the rest of the AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> So, I now ship Brallon, at least in this AU. I also really wanted to do a fake dating trope, so this happened.
> 
> It can be read as a stand alone, but reading "With Me" might help a little, since it kind of establishes how Dallon fell into the mess that is being in love with the Forehead Man.
> 
> Also, Gee is non-binary in this, and they've been out for a few years. Everything else should be pretty self-explanatory? If it's not, just ask me.

It had been only one day of Dallon recognising that he had a crush on Brendon before his life fell to complete shit. It was completely Brendon’s fault, too. Well, technically it was the group of bigoted jocks who thought it would be funny to spray paint “Tranny Fags” across the band room doors that fateful Monday morning who made Dallon’s life fall to shit, but Brendon just made it worse.

  


See, everyone at Belleville High knew that the band was full of queer people. It was just a given. There had been mean things said and written about the band before, and no one had made a big deal about it. There had been some rude slurs thrown around when Gee first came out, but then Lindsey turned the entire cheerleading squad gay in a week, leaving most of the relevant football players single, and so they shut the fuck up. Dallon didn’t know how Lindsey had managed to convert fourteen girls to lesbianism in five days (six if one counted the party that Saturday), but she’d done it.

  


Brendon had mentioned something about a magic tongue, but then Lindsey had pulled out her trombone and aimed it at him, and he had kept his mouth shut for the rest of the day. 

  


But, back to the current assault at hand. The words had shown up Monday, Gee had shown up Tuesday (the same Tuesday that Dallon realised he had a thing for Brendon) with their hair back to being black , instead of the cherry red they had started the school year with, and by Wednesday morning, there was a scheme happening. 

  


No one specifically mentioned the scheme to Dallon, but he got a text from Brendon in third period that just said  _ if ur gay b @ my house TODAY _ , so Dallon knew that something was up. He didn’t know what, but he knew better than to try and avoid it. This was band. They’d hunt him down one way or another, and Dallon didn’t want to be at the end of anyone’s wrath.

  


So, he told his mom and dad to go to the Wednesday church service without him, because there was going to be extra marching practice and he couldn’t miss it. That was a lie. There was no extra marching practice. It would start at exactly six PM that Wednesday, just as it did every other day, but the three hours between school ending and practice starting would be spent in Brendon Urie’s huge ass basement. 

  


Brendon and Lindsey stood on either side of an easel, which had a large poster of the varsity football players on it. Lindsey looked like she was ready to kill someone, and Brendon’s expression said that he’d help her so long as she told him the name of her target. Dallon took a seat on the floor up near the front, next to Frank Iero, actually. Ray was on the other side of Frank, and it looked like everyone else was here already.

  


Brendon clapped his hands together like an excited kindergarten teacher, but he wasn’t smiling and he didn’t look all that excited. Determined was a better word. “Okay, so as everyone who came to school Monday knows, some assholes decided that it would be funny to write some shit on our doors, targeting one of our friends.”

  


Brendon had begun to pace back and forth across the front of the room as he talked, and Dallon was pretty sure he and the band were about to get recruited into some kind of all out war. He wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Brendon extended his hand out to Lindsey. “Marker me.”

  


She did. Brendon uncapped the marker and let the cap bounce away. “So. Because Lindsey Ballato is a determined woman when need be, we know exactly who on the football team thinks that they’re oh so funny. Lindsey got into the school’s camera room yesterday, somehow, and she found the film that has our new enemies all over it. We considered playing it for you, but then decided that that would take too much time so we just stole the football team poster from the gym. Because we aren’t assholes, but we are definitely petty.”

  


Lindsey crossed her arms over her chest and stepped forward, and (probably because she was wearing heeled boots and just tended to look like an evil witch) the whole room sat up to attention. Dallon tried to not sit up too much, so that he wouldn’t block anyone. Lindsey looked over them all, eyes slightly narrowed and her bright red lips drawn into a stern frown. “While Brendon circles our targets, let me explain the game. Homecoming is in a month. Homecoming is the grand, gay finale, but we’ll be doing a lot between now and then. Some of these things will be done in a mature, adult-like fashion, but most of us are neither mature nor adults so most of this shit is gonna be revenge in the form of tampons and pissing on things that aren’t ours.”

  


Brendon had circled about five heads and had started to label them. Lindsey glanced back at him to see how much progress he had made, and then she returned her stare to the crowd. “Our first item of business is the adult thing. We--meaning me, Ray, Brendon, and Gee--are going to go to literally every important adult at school and report the assholes who did this. That probably won’t work because Gee’s trans and everyone seems to not give a fuck about trans kids. So, since we can’t get the fuckboys kicked out in a nice, formal way, we’re going to have to be dicks about it. Starting with piss.”

  


“Drink a lot of water Friday and then find me at the end of school, before we all go to band practice.” Brendon said, looking around for the marker cap. He found it, and capped the marker. “This is kind of a dick-wielders only thing, but if any non-dick people wanna join, I won’t say no.”

  


“Brendon’s gonna sneak into the football team’s locker room while they’re out practicing for the game and piss in their lockers.” Lindsey said. “It was his idea, and I’m totally down with it. I came up with the tampon thing, but we need to wait until their gear is all together, and we’re going to need a lot of used tampons first.”

  


Dallon couldn’t help but make a face at that. He was just imagining a bunch of old, bloody tampons sitting around in people’s things and how gross that would be. Old blood couldn’t be sanitary. There was no way. 

  


It was a dirty prank, literally and figuratively, and Dallon was pretty impressed with Lindsey for thinking of it. 

  


“Any questions?” Brendon asked. “Because we'll be having these meetings on Tuesdays from now on, so that we don't overlap with band practice. If you need to lie to your parents about where you are feel free to do so, because getting revenge on these dickheads is so much more important than keeping morals.”

  


There were no questions, but a bunch of people gave Lindsey and Brendon their phone numbers and Brendon promised to make a group chat so that they could plot outside of the meetings. Slowly, everyone filed out except for the Way siblings and Dallon. Mikey was sitting on the couch, already texting someone, and Gee was next to him, biting at their already short nails. Lindsey crossed over and sat down beside them, wrapping an arm around their shoulders. “Are you still okay with us doing this? We can call it off if you aren't comfortable with this.”

  


Gee shook their head. “No, I'm fine. I'm just nervous about the meeting tomorrow. No one on the staff is going to take us seriously.”

  


Lindsey kissed their temple and Dallon felt like he was intruding on something so he got up off the floor and moved over to where Brendon was cleaning up everything and doing his best to make the basement look like it had never been the base for a revenge plot. Considering how many parties Dallon had helped Brendon clean up, it wouldn't take him too long. Brendon was good at cleaning shit up. Dallon grabbed the football poster off the easel, which he assumed was either Lindsey's or Gee's. “Are we giving this back?”

  


“Nope.” Brendon said, grinning. “Oh, and Lindsey forgot to mention it but we're gonna make homecoming gay by making everyone have a same or similar sex date.”

  


“Cool.” Dallon said, folding the poster in half. “Who's your fake boyfriend, then? Or have you decided yet?”

  


“Dude, you're my fake boyfriend, what the fuck?” Brendon made a face at Dallon, like Dallon was stupid for asking. Dallon wanted to die. He didn’t die, obviously, because that would be inconvenient for literally everyone else in the room, but he did step back from Brendon. He didn’t mean to, it just kind of happened. “Who decided that?”

  


“I did.” Brendon said, looking hurt. Dallon felt like a cornered animal. It wasn’t fair. He had only figured out that he liked Brendon two days ago. He wasn’t ready for the fake dating trope, because that never ended well for anyone in fiction, so there was no way it could end well for him in reality. Especially since it was Brendon that he had to pretend to date. Brendon was not an easy person to deal with, boyfriend status or otherwise. Dallon ran his hand through his hair, to get it out of his face and also so he could be doing something with his hands and not looking like an idiot. “Why?”

  


“Because you're my friend and I haven't had sex with you yet, so I don't have to worry about things getting awkward.” Brendon said. Dallon decided that it was too early for this, even though it was four in the afternoon and not early at all. “Yes, because fake dating you will be so much easier since we've never actually dated.”

  


“Shut up, I thought it would be easiest for both of us.” Brendon sounded pretty pissy. Dallon thought he kind of deserved it, for picking Dallon without Dallon's consent. Brendon crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not really out yet, so if you go with me we don’t have to act super gay unless you’re comfortable with it. I know you, Dallon, I’m not going to make you do anything you’re not interested in.”

  


“What if I’m not interested in this at all?” Dallon asked.

  


“What, helping Gee and putting some homophobic dicks in their place?” Brendon snapped back, raising an eyebrow. Dallon quickly glanced over to Lindsey, Gee, and Mikey, but the three of them weren’t paying much attention to Dallon and Brendon. “No, I want to do that. I just didn’t know it would entail me being your next-- _ fake _ \--boyfriend. Even if it’s not real, people are still going to spread rumours. I don’t really care about getting outed at this point; I’m a senior anyway, so it’s not like there’s anything people can really do about it. I just don’t want to end up with a reputation that isn’t real.”

  


“That won’t happen.” Brendon said, sounding like he really fucking meant it. Dallon wished he could believe Brendon, but the truth was, anyone who dated Brendon came out of it with a label. That label was usually along the lines of easy, useable, disposable. Dallon didn’t want to be any of those things. He didn’t want to end high school being known only as Brendon’s tall fuck buddy. If he was going to leave behind any kind of legacy (which he wasn’t planning to do), it was going to be his own. Not Brendon’s. 

  


Dallon let out a sigh. “I hope you’re right. And I hope this all works out and no one gets kicked out of school or suspended.”

  


“Dude, come on.” Brendon rolled his eyes, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of his lips so Dallon knew that they were back on good terms. “Have a little faith in me. I get away with stupid shit all the time. There’s no way we’re gonna get caught with any of this.”

  
“You sure?” Dallon asked, because someone had to. Brendon nodded. “Hell yeah. The football team might guess that we’re getting revenge, but they won’t know who in the band is doing it, or if it’s actually the band members. I’m gonna make us all untraceable.”


	2. The Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made and they are not very good ones. Dallon still doesn't get paid enough for this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am enjoying writing this more than I thought I would. Also, I keep misspelling Brendon's name.

As literally everyone expected, the mature plan didn’t work. Lindsey, Brendon, and Gee went to the principal’s office first thing Thursday morning, before the seven o’clock early bell rung, and waited for the man to arrive. Once he got to his office, the three of them filed in, Brendon and Lindsey immediately telling him everything that had happened. Gee had been asked to back their story, and they had, and for a while, things had started to look like they were going in the band’s favour. 

 

Then the principal asked how the three of them knew exactly who had painted the words, and Lindsey told him about getting access to the video tapes by asking some members of the faculty. She didn’t name drop anyone, because she knew better, and it was the right decision because the principal almost expelled her right then and there (according to the version Dallon would later get from Brendon). Luckily, Gee talked him down from kicking her out, explaining how she was just desperate to help them out and be a supportive friend, and the principal relented. Instead of getting expelled, Lindsey was suspended. For an entire week.

 

Lindsey spent the rest of Thursday in the band room after telling Schechter, the band director, what had happened. He was on Lindsey’s side, and told her to just hang out in his office and hide if he banged on the door.

 

Band class that day was interesting. Dallon, being a tuba and sitting in the back (and also not having to play all the time), got to observe most of what was going on. Lindsey watched for most of practice, her forehead pressed against the glass of Schechter’s office window. Brendon was hardly playing, despite being first chair flute and one of two piccolos. He spent most of class hunched over his and Ashley’s stand, writing notes in his little Moleskin that he always had in the back pocket of his jeans. Schechter only bothered telling Brendon to pick up his instruments and play three times before deciding it wasn’t worth it.

 

Gee seemed more subdued than usual, just playing their French horn like they secretly hated it. Frank, who everyone in band knew was one-hundred percent in love with Gee, was the opposite. He was playing sax like it was a murder weapon and he had a long ass list of targets to kill before class was over. 

 

Brendon cornered Dallon before Dallon could leave the band room. Dallon was packing his tuba into its case and putting it away in the storage room when Brendon appeared beside him, leaning against the metal shelves used for the smaller instruments. “You're doing the pissing thing, right?”

 

“We're actually going to go and piss in people's lockers?” Dallon asked. Brendon nodded. “I know it's not original but come on, you've gotta admit that it'll be super fucking effective.”

 

Dallon shrugged. Brendon frowned at him and crossed his arms over his chest. Dallon finished putting his tuba away and stood up so that he was taller than Brendon. He liked being taller than Brendon for some reason. “I'll be there. Those dicks need to get put in their place anyway, we might as well pee on everything they love.”

 

Brendon beamed up at him. “You are my favourite person ever, Dallon. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.”

 

“Yeah, okay.” Dallon said, rolling his eyes and moving away from Brendon’s attempt to latch onto him. Brendon pouted up at Dallon, because Brendon was secretly a five year old who needed constant attention and Dallon was his dad, apparently. Not in a sexual way, but in a “I can't believe I have to take care of this dumb forehead child” kind of way. Dallon didn't mind it too much, because sometimes Brendon could actually be endearing. Dallon pushed Brendon's face away. “You already got me to agree to pee on things, don't push it.”

 

“You love me and you'd do anything for me.” Brendon said, trying to get his head up on Dallon's shoulder. Dallon kept moving away. He hated that Brendon was right, that Dallon would probably do anything for him. Not, like, kill someone. Dallon wasn’t  _ that _ hung up on Brendon. He hoped that he never would be, because that would be super fucking unhealthy and Dallon did not want to be in an unhealthy relationship with anyone ever.

 

Brendon followed him to his next class, because Brendon could get away with being late to class. He reached up and messed up Dallon’s hair before Dallon could stop him, then winked and ran off. Dallon watched him go, because  _ what the fuck _ , and then tried to fix his hair before going into the classroom. 

 

No one looked up as he came in, because everyone else had settled into their little friend groups and started talking to each other. Dallon’s friend group was the band, and none of them were in this class with him. Dallon made his way to his seat near the back (there had been an alphabetical seating chart at the beginning of the year but since this was a senior class, most people didn’t pay attention to the seating chart after the first few days of class) and dropped down into his seat, his knees hitting the underside of the desk.

 

_ Well _ , he thought to himself,  _ at least tomorrow will be exciting. _

 

* * *

Dallon was in physics with Ray and Gee, the three of them trying to figure out the lab that the teacher had explained badly. The rest of the class wasn’t even trying to do the lab; they were all on their phones or just talking about things that had nothing to do with physics. Dallon was ever so grateful to have two of his friends in this class. He’d be stuck with random lab partners otherwise, and he’s have to do all the work on his own so that he didn’t fail.

 

“Wait, so is the ramp supposed to be at a ten degree angle or ten centimetres off the ground?” Ray asked, holding both the ramp (which was just a Matchbox Cars plastic road thing) and a ruler in his hands and staring at them like they would answer his question. Dallon reached over the lab table to grab the instructions from Gee, who had been doodling in the corner while reading them over for the fifth time. Dallon looked down on the page. “Um, I think we’re supposed to do both? Do we have a compass?”

 

“Nope.” Gee said. “There’re only two compasses in this whole fucking school. One of them is in the art room and the other is broken and in the chemistry closet. It’s also broken.”

 

“So then we just do the ten centimetres thing. Cool.” Ray said, and started trying to measure it out. The track was flimsy, though, and so it wouldn’t stay on the ten centimetre pile of books and binders Ray had made. Gee leaned over the table and pressed their finger down on the top of the track. “He should have given us tape.”

 

“He should have given us better instructions.” Dallon said, and got a pair of nods from his lab partners. Dallon grabbed the rubber ball that they were supposed to be using and set it at the top of the ramp. Ray gave him a thumbs up, and Dallon let go of the ball. As expected, it rolled down the ramp and then kept rolling. Ray let out a small “oh shit” and snatched the ball before it fell off the table and inevitably bounced across the room and into another country. Dallon shook his head. “What are we even trying to prove here?”

 

“That gravity still works?” Gee offered. They let go of the ramp thing and it fell off the books. Gee rubbed at their face, further smearing their eyeliner. “We’re probably just doing it wrong.”

 

“No shit.” Ray said. 

 

The door to the classroom opened, and some kid that Dallon didn’t recognise at all burst through the door like his Christmas presents had just come in early and he was literally five years old. Half of the class looked up at the intrusion. The kid was grinning. “There’s a fight in the cafeteria! Some kid just went apeshit on one of the football guys!”

 

Ray and Gee immediately made wide-eyed eye contact with each other. “Frank.”

 

“Shit.”

 

The classroom erupted into chaos, and the physics teacher didn’t do anything to try and stop them. Dallon loved the public school system (Dallon did not actually love the public school system). He, Gee, and Ray shoved through the other twenty something kids who were trying to get out of the door to go see the fight. The three of them somehow managed to get out without losing sight of each other, because Dallon was super fucking tall, Ray’s hair was impossible to miss, and Gee was good at grabbing onto people and staying attached. 

 

When they got down to the cafeteria, it was as chaotic as Dallon had imagined it to be. There were people shouting, jumping up and down excitedly, and the crowd was too big for any teachers to be able to get through. 

 

“Frank’s gonna get himself expelled.” Gee said, just loudly enough for Dallon and Ray to hear. “We’ve gotta stop him.”

 

“We are the least equipped to stop a fight.” Dallon said, but he grabbed onto Gee’s arm anyway and the three of them started pushing their way up through the crowd. Gee looked terrified, and Ray looked genuinely pissed off. Dallon had never seen Ray look like that, so it was probably Ray’s angry face that got them through the crowd so easily.

 

Dallon saw the fight before anyone else, and it was worse than he pictured it. Some of the football player’s friends had joined in, so it was now a tiny, angry, stubborn Frank Iero versus three large and strong football players. Oddly enough, Frank wasn’t dead. He did have blood over his face, though, and he was holding one arm closer to his stomach than the other and he kicked and spat and clawed at the three other guys. 

 

“Frank, no!” Gee burst out of Dallon’s grip, and Dallon didn’t know what the fuck Gee thought they were going to do to help Frank, but he knew it could only end badly. 

 

Luckily, Ray had the same thought as Dallon, and so they both ran in after Gee. Dallon immediately got an elbow to the collar bone. He was pretty sure that the other guy had been aiming for Dallon’s face, but forgot that Dallon was the height of a California Redwood. Dallon had no idea what he was doing, he just kind of swung his fists at anything that looked like an angry jock. In the background, he heard the mass of kids cheering, as well as Frank yelling at Gee for getting involved.

 

Frank had an impressive set of lungs, considering that he smoked, had the immune system of a bag of potato chips, and was currently trying to not get beat up. He also had a lot to say about Gee coming to his rescue and trying to fight people.

 

If Dallon wasn’t fearing for his life, he would be rolling his eyes at how much of an old married couple Gee and Frank could be without actually being old or married. As it was, he was pretty sure that he had just gotten a black eye and he hurt all over, both from punching and kicking guys who were one-hundred percent muscle and from getting punched and kicked from guys who were one-hundred percent muscle.

 

“Break it up, break it up right  _ now _ !” A booming voice was saying, and then Dallon was being pulled away from his sparring partner (who had slowly been turning Dallon into a punching bag) and the crowd was disappearing. Dallon pressed his fingertips to his cheekbone, and it hurt like a mother fucker. 

 

“I can’t believe this.” The principal was looking down at all seven of them, mouth turned down into a harsh scowl. “I’m going to be calling all of your parents, and you will be going home immediately until I can get a good account of what happened. I hope I don’t have to expel anyone, but I will take whatever action is necessary. Do you boys understand?”

 

Frank twitched, his hands clenched into tight fists and his body in a pose that clearly read “I’ll fucking fight you.” Ray looked about the same, and Dallon felt a little pissed off too. If any of his friends got kicked out because the football team were being assholes… Dallon didn’t know what he would do exactly, but it would probably be something that would look bad on his record. Maybe he would piss in the principal's office. 

 

“I said, do you boys understand?” The principal asked them again. Gee nodded, even though they weren’t a boy. In that moment, Dallon realised just why the band was doing what they were doing. It wasn’t petty, or childish. It wasn’t them all over reacting or letting their crazy teenage hormones think for them. They were doing this for Gee, and for justice, and for every weird, non-Cisero conformist kid out there. The slurs on the band room doors had just been the final straw in what the Belleville High School band could tolerate.

 

So, Dallon raised his head and said, in his most polite, adult-approved tone, “Yes, I understand.”

 

He wasn’t talking about the punishment, of course, because he was trying really hard to not think about what would happen when his parents found out about this. There was a very high chance that they would ground him until the day he left for a college that he hadn’t yet decided on. There was also a chance that they would ban him from going to college so that they could continue to ground him after he finished high school. Dallon knew his very small social life was about to end, so he was just trying to not think about that.

 

It wasn’t working very well. 

 

Dallon, Gee, Ray, and Frank were sitting on one side of the administrative offices, and the three football players were sitting on the other side. The receptionist lady was watching them all with a disapproving look on her face. The principal was in his office, calling all of their parents individually. Dallon had his phone in his hand and was just staring at it, waiting for a text from one of his parents. 

 

“You guys shouldn’t have done that.” Frank said. “Now the whole fucking band’s gonna get suspended, and then what? We can’t do the thing if we’re all banned from school.”

 

“We have a game tomorrow.” Ray said. “Shit, there’s no way they can stop us from marching, right? Especially since Gee’s a drum major.”

 

“Would you fags shut up about your stupid marching band? No one fucking cares.” One of the football players spat out. Frank rose up so quickly that he kicked his chair back and it fell over. The receptionist raised an eyebrow, but didn’t do anything. Gee tugged at Frank’s wrist and hissed, “Frank, sit down. He’s just trying to piss you off, okay? Just let it go.”

 

“No fucking way, Gee.” Frank said, trying to get out of Gee’s grip and not being very successful. Apparently Gee had an iron grip when necessary. Frank tried again to free his arm. “Gee, come on, they can’t say that shit about you and get away with it. I wanna kick his ass. I  _ need _ to kick his ass.”

 

“No you don’t, Frank.” Gee said, grabbing Frank with both hands now. They looked over their shoulder at Ray. “Ray, back me up here.”

 

Ray looked at Gee, and then up to Frank. “Frank, Gee’s right. You don’t need to kick his ass. We need to kick his ass, together, and when we’re not on school grounds so that we can’t get suspended. So, sit down, we’ll deal with this later.”

 

Frank frowned, but he picked up his fallen chair and slumped down into it. “We fuckin’ better.”

 

“Frank Iero, your mother is here to pick you up.” The receptionist said. Frank’s anger didn’t fade at all as he grabbed his bag and limped out of the offices. Frank mom must have been one of the first people called, which made sense considering that Frank had been there from the beginning of the fight and also had a broken nose. A broken nose that Frank wasn’t letting anyone look at, because he said that he was fine and that he didn’t need a doctor, even though he was still bleeding a little and his whole face looked painful. 

 

Frank was a stubborn little guy, though, so he just walked out with his head high and stepped on the foot of one of the football players as he left. The football player made a grab for Frank, but he was already out of reach, and then out of the door, before the football player could think up some form of revenge. 

 

Dallon’s mom was the next to show up, and he left quietly, grabbing his bag and getting the fuck out before any of the football players could get him. His mom was by the checkout desk, looking more worried than mad. That was a good thing. Dallon still had a chance to get out of this with minimal grounding. He gave her a weak smile as he approached, and she reached out and touched his injured eye tenderly. “Dallon, what got into you?”

 

“There were three guys going at Frank, mom. He’s tiny, and Gee jumped in first.” Dallon said. “Me and Ray weren’t going to just stand there and let them get beat up.”

 

“Honey, it’s honourable that you want to protect your friends, but you need to take care of yourself.” She said, signing whatever papers were necessary to get Dallon out of school and then leading him to where she had parked. Dallon put his bag in the backseat and then got into the front. His mom let out a sigh as she started the car. “Your father and I already decided that you’re going to be grounded for at least a month, but we haven’t hashed out the details yet.”

 

Dallon nodded, because he had learned that it was best to shut up and listen until he knew everything about his grounding situation. He hadn’t been grounded a lot, but he was a quick learner and his parents weren’t that great at hiding their intentions, at least when it came to reprimanding Dallon. 

 

“While I’m glad you wanted to defend your friends, I really wish you hadn’t gotten into a fight with those other boys. I saw one of them, Dallon, and he was  _ huge _ .” She took one of her hands off the wheel to gesture about how tall and built the football player must have been. “You could have gotten a lot worse than a black eye… and they’re still going to suspend you, aren’t they? Even though you were just trying to help Frank and Gerard?”

 

“I, yeah. Probably.” Dallon said. He felt like he was supposed to correct her and say that it was just Gee, that Gee hadn’t gone by Gerard for the past two years and probably wouldn’t be changing that any time soon. 

 

Dallon’s mom shook her head. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe my son actually got in a fight.”

  
“I’m sorry mom.” Dallon said. His mother didn’t say anything in response, and so the rest of the car ride home was spent in silence. Dallon leaned his head back on the headrest and just watched the familiar scenery go by as his mom drove. His phone buzzed in his pocket, but he didn’t pull it out. He figured that if he didn’t bring his phone out in front of his mom, she might forget that he had a phone and she might not take it from him. Dallon was pretty sure that Brendon had just texted him, though, and the buzz a few seconds later confirmed that. Brendon was not a patient man, but he would have to be. Dallon was going to be without his phone for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave a kudo or a comment (or both!) if you liked it!


	3. The Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, Brendon has a thing for bad boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So people seem to like this, which is good because I have never written Brallon before (except for a one-shot, but that wasn't so much Brallon as it was pre-Brallon). 
> 
> This story could alternatively be titled "I'd Be A Punk If My Mom Would Let Me".

_ dallon wat happnd??? i heard that frnk got in a fight n u gee n ray were there?? but u don’t fight bc ur a tree so wat is the truth _

 

_ dbag answer ur txts _

 

_ dildo. dilly dally.  _

 

_ DAD. _

 

_ dude wtf r u grounded? _

 

_ wait am i sending these to ur parents? whoops shit sorry mr n mrs weekes i’m a good person i swear _

 

_ dill pickle tell ur parents my phone got hcked pls _

 

_ *hacked _

 

Dallon stared at his phone, which he had managed to win back from his parents, and was not at all surprised by the text spam from his friend. He wasn’t sure how to respond though, so he just plugged his phone in and sat down at his desk to try and concentrate on his homework. Homework and band were the only two things Dallon was allowed to do at the moment (besides his weekend shifts at Subway), and he really didn’t feel like practicing any of the marching music.

 

To be fair, he didn’t want to do any of his homework either, but he figured that doing the homework would put him in better favour with his parents. Dallon needed that. He needed his parents to lift their restrictions on his life, because he needed to go over and talk to Brendon in person about what the fuck was going to happen now. Dallon didn’t know for certain, but he was pretty sure that he was going to get suspended for the fight. There was no reason for the school not to suspend him, and he didn’t have any connections to the school administration. He wasn’t going to get out of a suspension, and he needed to let Brendon know. 

 

Dallon wanted to get back at these rude athletes, now more than ever. They kept proving that they were assholes over and over again. It was pissing him off.

 

Dallon’s phone buzzed and he looked over immediately because his phone was more interesting than his physics homework. It wasn’t Brendon, it was Lindsey. 

 

_ Witch Lord: welcome to hell aka the suspended life. ps beebo said to sneak out through ur window and get in his basement. plan is still happening _

 

Dallon looked up, trying to see if Brendon was in his room or not. He wasn’t, and the light was out. The school day had ended about an hour ago, so if there was a meeting going on in Brendon’s basement then Brendon was really getting his shit together with this plan. Dallon was impressed. He also knew that he wasn’t going to try and sneak out through his window. His room was on the second floor, and there was nothing under his window (except for the ground) that he could use to land on if he got out of it. 

 

At one point, Brendon had suggested that they make a zip line between their bedroom windows, and Dallon had shot the idea down because he assumed that Brendon would use it to zip over and annoy Dallon at random hours of the night. Now, though, Dallon was really wishing that he and Brendon had made the zip line, because that would at least get him to Brendon’s house. He wouldn’t be able to get inside, because Brendon’s window was closed, but it would still feel like progress. 

 

_ to Witch Lord: can’t parents have me locked up in room. can you text me details? _

 

_ Witch Lord: ye sure hold on. _

 

Dallon didn’t even bother going back to his homework. At this point he wasn’t going to get any of it done, so he decided to just give up on it for now. He knew that after band practice he would be holed up in his room, rushing through it all so that his parents couldn’t catch him doing the homework he was supposed to already be done with. 

 

_ Witch Lord: peeing has been postponed until next week however beebs is gonna put something in the football teams gatorade/water jugs. idk what but it wont end well so we r definitely losing this game. oh well… _

 

Dallon laughed. He could only imagine what Brendon was planning, and it made him want to go over and talk to Brendon immediately. He couldn’t, though, because both of his parents were downstairs and they would know if Dallon tried to sneak out. They would know, and they would catch him, and then he would be really grounded, and not just semi-grounded. Dallon couldn’t risk that. 

 

_ to Witch Lord: good plan @ brendon. btw do you know if me/frank/ray/gee are suspended yet? _

 

_ Witch Lord: nope… the people in charge are letting you share ur side of the story tho so hopefully the suspension won’t b too long… _

 

_ to Witch Lord: they suspended you for a week because you snuck into the camera room. the four of us are screwed and not in a sexual way. _

 

_ Witch Lord: tru. have fun with the death sentence ;) _

 

_ to Witch Lord: thanks lindsey :///// _

 

Dallon locked his phone and dropped it onto his desk. He then buried his face into his hands and made a defeated sounding noise into his hands. He was ready for band practice, even if he wouldn’t be allowed to hang around the school afterwards to talk with his friends. He just needed to get out of his house for a while, because he couldn’t stop thinking about how fucked he was. He couldn’t stop thinking about how unfair everything was as well. It was like the entire school was against him and the band kids, and none of them had done anything wrong.

 

Dallon ran his hands through his hair, messing it up entirely. Fighting back was hard when he was still underage and his parents could easily ground him.

 

* * *

 

Dallon was asleep, having a nice dream where he was flying a small airplane to some random island and David Bowie was playing in the background, when suddenly he was jerked out of that dream and into the darkness of his bedroom. He had no idea why he was awake, because when he leaned over to check his phone for the time he saw that it was a little past two in the morning. There was no reason for him to be awake now, especially since he had only gone to bed about an hour and a half ago. 

 

He heard the sound of his door opening and Dallon dropped his phone before flopping down on the bed like he was still asleep. It was a talent he had developed over time from having parents who enjoyed checking in on him to make sure he had actually gone to bed.

 

The intruder grabbed Dallon’s shoulder and started to shake it. “Dallon, wake the fuck up this is important.  _ Dallon _ .”

 

That was not the voice of either of his parents. Dallon was concerned, and he considered continuing to fake being asleep. However, the intruder knew his name and was still shaking him. Dallon whipped his arm out from under the sheets and managed to whack the person without looking at them. He then turned over onto his back and opened his eyes to see “Brendon? What--what are you doing in my house?  _ How  _ did you get in my house?”

 

“The window in your bathroom was open. You should probably close it at some point.” Brendon said. He was hovering over Dallon, half on top of him. “But do it later, when I’m not trying to sneak over and tell you shit because you got yourself grounded.”

 

“I’m going to get even more grounded if my parents come in and see a guy in my bed, by the way.” Dallon said.

 

Brendon, because he was an asshole and literally the worst person ever, winked. “We can take this downstairs if that’ll make you more comfortable.”

 

“No.” Dallon shook his head. “Absolutely not. Just tell me what you need to and go back to your house. I don’t want to get in more trouble with my parents, okay? I’m lucky to still have my phone.”

 

“Yeah, but you’re not responding to my texts so what’s the point of even having it?” Brendon said. Dallon gave him a look that everyone called his  _ Stern Dad Look _ . Brendon rolled his eyes but didn’t move from his position above Dallon. “Fine, I guess we’ll have our secret two AM rendezvous another night. But you’ve gotta get better at this romance thing if we want to pull off this fake boyfriends thing.”

 

Dallon ran his hand down his face. It was too early for this, and for once, he wasn’t being dramatic when he thought that. “Brendon, everyone in the band knows we’re not actually dating. We don’t have to pretend that we are. We just need to show up at homecoming together and act really gay then.”

 

“Okay, look, tree boy, you might not talk to anyone outside of band class, but I do.” Brendon said. “I’m popular, people know who I am and how I act when I’m dating someone versus when I’m not. They also know how my dates act. So, as soon as you get unsuspended and are legally allowed within school grounds, you need to have your dating act together because no one’s gonna think we’re a legitimate gay couple at homecoming if we’re not acting like we’re a real couple beforehand.”

 

Dallon stared up at Brendon, waiting for the punchline. “And how exactly do we act like a real couple? Am I supposed to stare at you like you put the stars in the sky? Because I can’t do that convincingly. I’m going to end up looking at you like you’re an egotistical little shit.”

 

“I am an egotistical little shit, and everyone I go out with knows that.” Brendon said. “But what I mean is, we’ve gotta do all the embarrassingly gross couple things, because everyone I date tries to out-do whoever I dated previously, which basically means I make out with a lot of people in public places.”

 

“Brendon, I’m not out yet.”

 

“I know.” Brendon said, and he looked like he felt bad for making Dallon do this. “And I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to, but--”

 

“But I’m willing to come out if it’ll make some homophobic assholes really uncomfortable.” Dallon said, because he was an idiot and obviously hated himself. Brendon had just given him an out, a way to not have to do this, and Dallon hadn’t taken it. Instead, he would now have to kiss Brendon a lot (which wasn’t a problem), but it wouldn’t mean anything in the end, and Brendon would probably “dump” him the day after homecoming (which would suck, a lot, but at least Dallon knew it was coming). 

 

Brendon stared down at him. “Dallon, are you sure? Because once you come out, you’re kind of stuck being out. I don’t want to put you in an awkward situation with your parents or anyone else just because of these assholes. They’re bad, yeah, and Gee and the others don’t deserve any of the shit they’re getting, but these guys aren’t worth ruining your life over.”

 

“Coming out isn’t going to ruin my life.” Dallon said. “And besides, my parents never know what’s going on at school. They’ll probably never find out.”

 

“Oh.” Brendon said. “Cool. Well, that’s convenient.”

 

“I know, right?” Dallon said, laughing a little. He paused, suddenly, remembering something that was a little embarrassing considering that he was a senior in high school and his best friend was Brendon Urie. Dallon bit down on his lower lip. “Shit.”

 

“What?” Brendon asked, his eyebrows furrowing in what would be concern on a normal human being. 

 

“I’ve never kissed anyone and you’ve kissed, like, at least ten people. I’m gonna look like an idiot when we go public with this.” Dallon said. He was going to look like an idiot anyway, and there was no way this plan of turning homecoming gay would work. 

 

“No you won’t, I’ve got you covered.” Brendon said. Dallon tilted his head, confused by what Brendon meant, but he lost the ability to speak as Brendon shifted so that he was literally over Dallon, one leg on either side of Dallon’s body, and cupped Dallon’s jaw with the hand that he wasn’t using to keep himself up off the bed. Brendon lowered himself down and pressed his lips against Dallon’s. They were a little dry, but Dallon kissed back (or tried to) anyway, shifting his head to a better position. 

 

Brendon hummed against Dallon’s mouth, opening his own and licking at Dallon’s bottom lip. Dallon didn’t know how to respond that, so he just tried to keep kissing Brendon. Brendon pulled away, but barely, so that Dallon could kind of feel Brendon’s lips against his own. Brendon rubbed his thumb against Dallon’s cheek. “Open your mouth, dumbass.”

 

“How far are we going with this?” Dallon whispered back, because he knew Brendon and he also knew that his parents were two doors away and would probably be able to hear any sex noises. 

 

“I’m just showing you how to make out with someone, dude, don’t make a big deal about it.” Brendon said, and any response Dallon might have had was covered by Brendon kissing him again, this time licking at Dallon’s lower lip immediately. Dallon opened his mouth, and Brendon pressed his tongue inside. Dallon tentatively pressed his tongue against Brendon’s, and Brendon made that humming noise again, this time accompanied by him moving his hand down to Dallon’s neck and pressing closer to him. Dallon wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, so he just kind of settled them on Brendon’s shoulders and tried not to knock him over. 

 

Brendon licked at Dallon’s lower lip, bit it gently, and then pulled back, hoisting himself up onto his arms. He looked down at Dallon, and Dallon noticed that his cheeks were flushed and his lips looked a little swollen. Overall, it was a good look for the guy, especially since Dallon had done that without knowing what the fuck he was doing. Brendon reached up and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, that’s basically how you do it. So, yeah. Have a good night, D-bag. See you at the game or whatever.”

 

And then Brendon left. Dallon was pretty sure that he hadn’t done a good job with the kissing thing, then, because why would Brendon leave immediately if Dallon was actually nailing the kissing thing? Dallon probably sucked so bad that Brendon had to leave immediately so that he wouldn’t start laughing at Dallon to his face. 

 

Dallon turned over and buried his face into his pillow, not screaming into it because he was almost an adult and also because he didn’t want to wake his parents up. There was no way he was getting back to sleep after that. No fucking way. Dallon lifted his head from his pillow and stared at the wall directly in front of him. He was so screwed. He probably wouldn’t even make it to homecoming at this point.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, please leave a comment or a kudo or both!


	4. The Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dallon continues to regret his life choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I was really sick and I've been dealing with a lot of family issues. Hopefully they're all over now, and I'll be able to focus on writing (and school, whoops) more.

Dallon was suspended for three days because it was his first violation ever and he hadn’t done any real damage to any of the football players. Ray and Gee got a day longer than Dallon because Ray actually gave one of the football players a black eye and Gee… well, Dallon didn’t know why Gee got an extra day, and Gee didn’t know either. They suspected that it was the principal’s way of being a close-minded asshole and punishing Gee for being gender non-conforming.

 

Dallon was pissed off about that, and wanted to get some kind of personal retaliation in, but he was still grounded because his parents wanted him to know that fighting of any kind was not approved of at all. So he just suffered in silence and texted suggestions to Lindsey and Brendon. Lindsey ignored her week long suspension and spent her time in the band room, or out by the football field with whoever was skipping class. Dallon envied her freedom. He was stuck in his room receiving tips on how to date Brendon from Brendon, and it was not doing much for his sanity. 

 

The day Dallon returned to school from his suspension, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He got to school early, found a convenient parking space because he had gotten paid (thank God) and could actually pay for gas now, and headed straight to the band room. First period band practice was probably one of the best perks of being in marching band, because it meant that Dallon didn’t have to deal with the rest of the school first thing in the morning. 

 

“Dallon, psst, over here.” Brendon’s forehead and eyes appeared from behind percussion instruments. Dallon’s backpack was halfway down his arm, and he was hunched over in a very awkward and uncomfortable position. He narrowed his eyes at Brendon. “What do you want?”

 

“Don’t be an ass to your boyfriend; come over here.” Brendon’s arm appeared as well, his fingers waggling and tapping against the drum head. Dallon dropped his backpack onto the floor and readjusted his shirt from where the strap of his backpack had pulled it down. He came over to the other side of the percussion equipment to see Mikey, Brendon, and Lindsey sitting in a little circle, Mikey half under one of the timpani, his beanie all the way down to his glasses. Dallon sat down between Brendon and Lindsey, pushing Brendon away with his long legs as he tried to make room. He rested his chin in his palm. “So, why have I been summoned?”

 

“We need a better plan.” Lindsey said. “One that doesn’t involve Frank punching people and then half the band getting suspended. We also need to do it without telling any adults, because they won’t help with shit, and Schechter told me that he doesn’t want to know what I’m doing here, or that I’m even here, because he could get fired or something, and that would suck ass.”

 

“That would definitely suck ass.” Dallon agreed. “No one else would be willing to put up with us.”

 

“And no one else would be cool about all the gay shit we do.” Mikey added. He scrunched up his nose to push his glasses back up, which didn’t do much to fix the problem. “Gee and Ray are coming back tomorrow, and then Frank’s coming back next Monday, so we can try to do the locker thing this Friday but I don’t know if we’ll have enough people.”

 

“We’ll get enough people, just talk to Pete and his friends about it.” Lindsey said. Mikey nodded, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Lindsey reached across a marimba leg to swat it out of his hands. “Not right now, we’re plotting. Convince Pete later.”

 

“So what are we plotting? Just the pee thing?” Dallon asked. Brendon laughed, getting glares from Lindsey and Mikey. Dallon was starting to suspect that this meeting was a complete secret, even from the rest of the band. He had no idea why he was allowed in, but he wasn’t about to ask. He adjusted his position on the floor without hitting anyone. “Is there something else that I’m missing?”

 

“Well, we need to make it obvious that we won’t take shit from the football guys, but we need to do it without letting them know that we’re also getting revenge in the background.” Lindsey said. She stuck her legs out in the middle of the circle and rearranged her skirt. “We ran into a similar problem last year, when everyone was getting shoved around because we started being super gay, and I solved that by teaching a handful of pretty girls about the wonders of the vagina. I can’t do that again this year because, well, everyone on the cheerleader team already knows about the clit and I really don’t want to have to join the squad again. It was not fun.”

 

“So, instead of Lindsey going behind the football team’s back and making all their girlfriends gay, we’re going to take the gay to the front of the school, and make some fucking headlines about it.” Brendon said, wrapping his arm around Dallon’s shoulders. Dallon was starting to not like where this was going. Brendon pulled Dallon closer, even though Dallon was making a face and Lindsey was biting back a laugh at their antics. Brendon pressed an over dramatic kiss to Dallon’s forehead, with a loud “mwah!” at the end and everything. “All the same sex couples in band are going to act especially heterosexual, and by that I mean there will be so much gay PDA in the halls that we’ll match the straights.”

 

“There are, like, three gay couples in this band right now, Brendon.” Mikey said. “That’s going to be a lot of making out.”

 

“Oh, like you and Pete aren’t making out in the bathroom all the time anyway. Don’t play with me, Mikeyway, I’ve been in the dating scene longer than you.” Brendon jabbed his finger at Mikey with the hand that wasn’t in Dallon’s hair. Brendon picked Mikey’s phone up off the floor and handed it back to him. “Text Pete, Patrick, Joe, whoever, and tell them that we’re doing the gay thing today. It’s time for us to get gross and invasive.”

 

“And then when people complain, I’ll just point them in the direction of the nearest straight couple and ask why they aren’t getting pulled out of school for being inappropriate.” Lindsey said. “Hayley’s going to love this.”

 

“Oh, you’re back with Hayley now?” Brendon asked, and Dallon could feel it when he spoke. If they weren’t in the back corner of the band room, but instead out in public, Dallon could get away with licking Brendon’s neck. As it was, he wasn’t supposed to be attracted to Brendon and so licking his neck would be a bad idea.

 

“Well, kind of. She’s been having some family problems, so she’s staying at my place for now and we may or may not have been sleeping in my bed. Naked.” Lindsey said, and she looked a little embarrassed. Dallon was surprised; Lindsey never got embarrassed while talking about girls. “It’s not official or anything, but she’s down for acting official, at least until we fix this assholery.”

 

“Well, at least you didn’t have to teach her how to kiss.” Brendon said, petting Dallon’s hair. “Our favourite tall glass of water over here has never kissed anyone. Except me. He likes it when I take control and play teacher, isn’t that right, Dallon?”

 

“I’m going to kill you,” was Dallon’s only response. He stared at the floor, because he could feel his face getting red and he knew that if would only get worse if he looked at anyone else. Especially if he looked at Brendon, because he had a crush on Brendon (that was becoming more obvious every day) but he also really,  _ really  _ hated him. Like, a lot. If Dallon was ever going to label a real person as a problematic fave it would have to be Brendon Urie. 

 

Brendon patted the side of Dallon’s face. “You’ll have to get past that, buddy, because we’ve got a show to put on to prove to this school that there’s nothing wrong with being gay. Or trans, but so far Gee’s the only one who’s trans and they’re still suspended.”

 

“But we’ll be proving that later.” Lindsey said. “I don’t know how, but we’ll do it.”

 

* * *

 

At first, being Brendon’s fake boyfriend didn’t seem too hard. Sure, Dallon knew he’d be sexually frustrated on a whole new level, but he and Brendon had been ambiguously gay before. The difference was now that they walked through the hallways while holding hands and would occasionally pause to just kiss each other. Dallon’s heart rate hadn’t slowed down since he left the band room that morning, and he was pretty sure he was going to die if he didn’t figure out how to fucking chill when around Brendon.

 

He had work after school, in the two hours between school and band practice (because capitalism sucked and his boss sucked and basically, Dallon was just an angsty teen who hid behind dad shirts). He figured that that would be a reprieve from all the fake dating and making out, but he was so wrong.

 

First, Brendon came in and rattled off about fifteen sandwiches (obviously he was getting stuff for the band), and then hung over the counter and flirted nonstop with Dallon while Dallon was trying to make the sandwiches. That would have been fine, because Brendon flirted with everyone all the time, but Brendon had the mind of a middle school boy who had just discovered pornhub. Some of the things he was saying to Dallon were really not appropriate for a Subway, and Dallon had to keep pausing to look up at Brendon and glare at him.

 

Brendon would just wink and continue on like he wasn’t interrupting Dallon while he was working or anything. 

 

Dallon finished the sandwiches and brought them down to the register. Brendon was practically on top of the counter as Dallon finished up his order, and Dallon had to push him back. “It’s unsanitary, Bren. I like having you here”  _ more than I should _ “but if you get me fired because you can’t keep your hands off of me for two hours, I’m gonna be pissed.”

 

“I bet I could blow you under that counter and no one would know.” Brendon said, and Dallon accidentally charged him for thirty three veggie delights instead of just three. Dallon fixed the order and also moved closer to the counter to try and hide the fact that he was turned on under his Subway uniform. “I don’t doubt you, but I’m serious. Don’t be me fired.”

 

“Will they fire you for kissing your boyfriend, or is that a straight people only thing too?” Brendon asked, dropping the flirty tone. He handed over his credit card (his parents’ credit card that he got to use) and purposely brushed his fingers over Dallon’s. Dallon did not flinch back or lean into the touch, because he was almost an adult and he was in total control of himself. Dallon swiped the card and handed it back before answering. “People have been fired for less than kissing the person they’re dating, Brendon. It’s not worth it.”

 

“I guess I’ll just have to kiss you later, then.” Brendon said, and winked. Dallon quirked an eyebrow, even though he was blushing and still trying to not be obviously turned on. “Yeah, you do that, then. I’ll see you at band practice.”

 

“Damn right you will.” Brendon said, grabbed the bags of sandwiches, and walked backwards out of the store. He slammed into the door on his way out, but the door was a push door so he didn’t look like a total idiot. Dallon bit back a laugh, because he was on the job and he was supposed to be friendly without actually acting like he had a personality. Laughing at his (fake) boyfriend was allowed on the job.

 

Dallon turned to the next customer and started making a new sandwich, focusing on his job and not on Brendon Urie. It was hard, because making sandwiches was easy and Brendon was more interesting than the three cheese options that people could put on their subs. He made it fourty five minutes before his job got put in danger again (it was an eventful shift).

 

A group of girls came in, and Dallon recognised them as being some of Brendon’s ex-girlfriends. He mentally steeled himself for anything, because not all of Brendon’s relationships ended nicely. Dallon put on a smile and approached the three girls. “Welcome to Subway, what can I get you?”

 

“Why are _ you _ dating Brendon?” The tallest one, who was about five six and had bleach blonde hair and fake eyelashes, leaned forward and glared up at him. “You’re not even that cute.”

 

“You’re not his type.” The short one with a deep tan and sparkly purple nails said, looking down at her nails. “He’ll be done with you in a few days, not a few weeks.”

 

“Um, okay, but I’m supposed to be taking sandwich orders, so could you please tell me what you’d like to order?” Dallon asked. He was doing to kill Brendon later, or at least have a long and serious conversation. Brendon had mentioned having to out perform all of his exes, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about them hunting him down and attacking him while he was trying to work. Sometimes Dallon wished he could trade lives with Brendon, just so the guy could see how it was like to not get everything he wanted by giving his parents puppy dog eyes. 

 

“We’re not interested in sandwiches.” The third one, who had flawless eyeliner and over-lined lips, pushed past the first two and faced Dallon with a fierce glare. “We’re here to try and figure out what’s so special about you. You’re not cute,  you have a boring personality, you’re definitely not popular, so what is it? How are you and Brendon dating, and why did he lower his standards so much?”

 

“You’d have to ask him that.” Dallon said, tightening his grip on the counter. He had to keep telling himself that what they said didn’t matter, because he wasn’t really Brendon’s boyfriend, and they were being jerks for no real reason. “But if you’re not here to get anything, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Loitering isn’t allowed, and I need to be doing my job right now. Have a nice day.”

  
The tallest one rolled her eyes and then flounced away in a manner that Dallon had only seen in movies. The other two girls looked Dallon up and down with disgust on their faces before following the blonde out of Subway. Dallon closed his eyes and just breathed for a second. He and Brendon were going to have a long ass talk about this after band practice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and please leave a kudo or a comment if you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. The Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dallon continues to deal with being Brendon's boyfriend. It's so hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to put sarcasm in a summary because I'm shite at html. Also, award for the least creative chapter title goes to Cal, ao3 user frankiesin (me). 
> 
> Look, there's tension in this chapter. All kinds of tension. It's also nearly midnight and I should probably be doing my maths instead of this. 
> 
> I'm sorry it was late school has been a thing.

So apparently Brendon Urie was a real life Ramona Flowers and Dallon had to play the part of Scott Pilgrim. Except, even if he “defeated” all of Brendon’s evil exes (who weren’t really evil, just vindictive), he wouldn’t get to date Brendon. Dallon wished there was a better analogy for his life, but there wasn’t, and he just had to deal with various people coming up and berating him for dating Brendon.

 

One guy came up to Dallon while Dallon was grabbing some books from his locker and said, “You know he’s going to break up with you after two weeks, right? He does that with everyone. He’s got some kind of issue with having a real relationship that isn’t just sex and movie dates.”

 

Dallon ignored the guy, but he promised Brendon he’d give him a ride home at the end of band practice. It was all so that Dallon could corner Brendon and demand explanation in an area where Brendon couldn’t escape. Let it be known that Dallon could be passive aggressive when he wanted to, he just didn’t always want to. He also wanted answers, because if Brendon was really just using people for the hell of it, Dallon was not impressed and needed to let Brendon know. 

 

Dallon immediately regretted deciding to have the conversation in his car when his car decided to blow a tire. At nine in the evening, when it was dark out and everyone else had already gone home. Dallon slammed his head back against the soft headrest. “Fuck.”

 

“You have a spare, right?” Brendon asked. Dallon shook his head. “No. I used the spare on another tire that had a leak, and I told my dad I’d go somewhere to get it fixed but I forgot, and that was in June. So, we have to call a tow truck.”

 

“I can call my mom and she’ll come pick us up.” Brendon was already going for his phone, but Dallon reached over and grabbed Brendon’s wrist. They weren’t that far away from their respective houses, and Brendon’s mom was a busy person. Dallon told Brendon that, and Brendon agreed with him. “Alright, just the tow truck then. How long do you think it’ll take them to get here?”

 

“Who knows?” Dallon said. “At least it’s not cold out. That would suck.”

 

“Don’t you have blankets in the backseat?” Brendon asked as Dallon fished his phone out of his backpack and dialled the tow truck number his dad had made him plug in back when he’d first gotten the car. Dallon nodded to Brendon’s question, and then spent about ten minutes getting through to someone who could come get the car. The woman on the other end said that there would be a truck coming in about thirty minutes, and to just sit tight and wait. Dallon thanked her and ended the call, and then sat back in the front seat. “So, we’re stuck here for a while.”

 

“Can we at least get out of the car?” Brendon asked. Dallon turned his head to the side to stare at Brendon. “What, so that we can turn a normal situation into the beginning of a bad horror movie?”

 

“It’ll only be a horror movie if we start having sex.” Brendon said. Dallon didn’t know if he wanted to test that theory or not. He knew he wouldn’t be able to, because he wasn’t supposed to be interested in Brendon when there was no one around to see him. He wasn’t actually dating his friend, and he had to keep reminding himself of that. Dallon sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt, deciding that some fresh air might help him clear his head. “Alright, fine, we’ll get out of the car.”

 

“You’re the best guy I’ve ever dated.” Brendon said, smiling warmly, and Dallon’s heart lurched inside of his chest. He opened the car door and made sure that he was facing away from Brendon when he responded with, “and I’m not even your real boyfriend,” because he was pretty sure that he would give himself away if Brendon could see his face. Dallon wanted to be Brendon’s real boyfriend (unfortunately), but there were so many complications, as well as knowing that Brendon didn’t want to actually date him.

 

Brendon wasn’t the type for silent pining. If Brendon was interested in someone, he made it known, and he went after them. Of course, Brendon also respected when people weren’t interested in him, or if he accidentally went after a lesbian or a straight guy without knowing it. Dallon had been around Brendon long enough to know when the guy was interested in someone, and Brendon had never shown any of those signs towards Dallon. 

 

The two of them settled themselves on the hood of Dallon’s car. Brendon laid down on his back almost immediately, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the sky like this was a high school cliche. Maybe it was, but Dallon wasn’t living it. He let out a sigh. “So, I met another one of your exes today.”

 

“Cool.” Brendon said. Dallon looked over his shoulder to see that Brendon’s eyes were closed. Dallon rolled his eyes,  _ what an asshole _ . “He said you break up with people after two weeks because you’re afraid of commitment. Are you?”

 

Brendon opened his eyes to look up at Dallon. He bit his lower lip, chewing on it instead of acknowledging Dallon’s question. Dallon crossed one of his legs over the other and twisted his body around so that he could stare Brendon down. Dallon raised an eyebrow, doing his best to imitate his mom’s  _ I’m waiting _ face she used any time Dallon wasn’t telling her everything. Brendon turned over onto his side and then sat up, hunching over so that he could rest his elbows on his legs. He raised an arm and mussed his own hair, the soft strands flying around in no discernable pattern. 

 

Dallon let out a sigh. “Brendon. Don’t tell me you’re just using these people for sex. They’re real people, and they have feelings and expectations about what a relationship is supposed to be!”

 

“I’m not afraid of commitment.” Brendon wasn’t looking at Dallon. He was staring at his own feet, his heels braced on the front bumper. His hair was out of it’s perfectly styled quiff and strands were falling into his face. He looked gorgeous. Dallon kind of wanted to shove him off of the car. And then maybe make out with him on the ground. It was ridiculous. It was even more ridiculous when Brendon turned his face toward Dallon’s and Dallon could see the moonlight reflecting in Brendon’s eyes. Brendon blinked. “I’m just afraid of committing to the wrong person, and no one I’ve dated has been the right person.”

 

“Oh.” Dallon had not been expecting that kind of response. “Well, I mean, you’re still in high school. You’re going to find the right person eventually.”

 

“Thanks Dal.” Brendon smiled at Dallon. He moved over so that their arms were pressed against each other, and leaned against the taller boy. They sat like that until the tow truck arrived. Brendon actually stayed quiet for once, which was odd. Brendon liked to talk. Dallon was pretty sure he was in love with his own voice or something (it was actually a really nice voice and Dallon didn't mind listening to it). He figured that Brendon was just tired and didn't have the energy to ramble on about whatever topic was interesting him at the moment. 

 

When Brendon didn’t start talking while they walked home, Dallon started to get worried that something was wrong. Brendon looked a little sad, or disappointed. Dallon reached out and wrapped his arm around Brendon’s shoulders. Brendon looked up at him, a small frown on his face. “What are you doing?”

 

“You looked kinda off.” Dallon said. “You know you can talk about it, if you want to. We’re friends. Also, you’ve told me most of your life story by now, so I’m pretty much ready for anything.”

 

“It’s nothing.” Brendon said, shrugging Dallon’s arm off. He looked away from Dallon and then looked back up at him again. It was very confusing; Dallon wasn’t sure what Brendon was trying to do. Brendon dropped his gaze. “Sorry about making your life hell, with the fake dating and everything. I know a lot of my exes turned out to be assholes, but at least I could offer sex or nice dates to the people I dated. You’d probably get freaked out if I tried to seduce you.”

 

“I… yeah. That would be weird.” Dallon said, running his hand through his hair and probably messing it up. Not that it mattered, since it was dark and Dallon was going home to do his homework and then go to sleep anyway. “But if you want to take me on a friend date--or even a fake boyfriends date--to make this easier, I won't mind. I've never been on any kind of date, so I don't have very high expectations.”

 

Brendon smiled, his soft lips curling up and his face looking smoother than usual in the moonlight. “We could do that. Anywhere you'd want to go, or do you trust me?”

 

“I think I trust you with this. Anything else, and I'd be worried, but you take a lot of people on dates.” Dallon said. He looked down at Brendon's hand, which was swaying at his side while they walked. It was so close to Dallon's; he could take it in his own if he wanted to. He could come up with a reason if Brendon asked, but maybe Brendon wouldn't ask why Dallon was suddenly holding his hand? Maybe Brendon would just let it happen, and let Dallon walk back home, hand in hand with his crush and his fake boyfriend. There was only one way for Dallon to get confirmation, and that was to just fucking do it. So he did, reaching out and linking Brendon's fingers with his own. Brendon didn't even miss a step, and actually squeezed Dallon's hand lightly. Dallon's heart did a flip that probably was not healthy, but it felt good anyway. 

 

It was dark, save for the moonlight, by the time the two boys reached their houses. Brendon's was first, and Brendon didn't let go of Dallon's hand, instead pulling him up the Uries’ front walk and onto the porch. Brendon pulled their clasped hands up to Dallon's chest. “Thanks for driving me home, and then walking me home when your tire blew. Also, I told my parents we were dating so you should probably kiss me or something before I go in for the night.”

 

“You told your parents?” Dallon whispered, his eyes going wide. “Are they going to tell mine?”

 

“No, I told them you weren't out yet and I didn't want to rush you.” Brendon rolled his eyes. “They also want you to come over for dinner at some point, but it's no big deal. You've met them before. They like you, they just want to be good parents and meet the boyfriend.”

 

“But I'm not actually your boyfriend; I'm just pretending.” Dallon said, because he didn't want to think about Brendon's parents or kissing Brendon where his parents could possibly see or anything else. 

 

“I know, but we need to keep up appearances.” Brendon said. “For Gee’s sake, of course. Now kiss me like you mean it.”

 

Dallon let go of Brendon’s hand so that he could cup Brendon’s face. He leaned down and pressed his lips to Brendon, pretending that this was real and maybe he would become the right person for Brendon and they would last more than a month. Brendon kissed back, and it almost felt real, because Brendon’s fingers were reaching for Dallon’s shirt, grabbing at the fabric and pulling him in closer. Dallon opened his mouth and let Brendon’s tongue in, and didn’t protest when Brendon moved them over to the door. Dallon pressed Brendon against the door, and Brendon made a squeaking noise against Dallon’s mouth. 

 

Dallon pulled back from Brendon so that he could breathe for a moment, but he went back to kissing Brendon almost immediately, because kissing Brendon was good. It was everything he wanted to do with his life at that moment. He dropped one hand down from Brendon’s face to palm at his chest, not really sure what he was doing but knowing that he wanted to touch Brendon while he could. 

 

Brendon bit at Dallon’s lower lip and Dallon let out a noise that was somewhere between a yelp and a moan. He pulled back from Brendon, his face feeling warm and his lip stinging from where Brendon had bit it. Dallon resisted the urge to put his fingers to his lips, because that was cliche as fuck and Dallon was better than that. Instead, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts and swallowed. “So, uh. Goodnight, I guess?”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.” Brendon said, reaching behind him to open his front door and dissappear inside of it. Dallon was blinded by the light of Brendon’s house for a moment before the door slammed shut behind him and he was back in the darkness. He stared at the door for a while before he realised how dumb he looked and picked his bag up off of Brendon’s front porch. He walked away, over to his own house next door. He let himself in through the garage and headed straight to his room, tossing his bag on his bed and then sitting down beside it. 

 

His lights were off, but he could see that Brendon was in his room and his lights were on. Dallon watched, feeling a little creepy and invasive, as Brendon pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it over out of frame. He sat down on his bed, in full view of Dallon, and pulled out his phone, texting someone with one hand. 

 

Dallon’s upper thigh vibrated. He pulled out his phone to see that he had one message from Brendon:

 

_ hey they bought it ur good ;) _

 

Dallon stared down at his phone, not sure how to respond. If Brendon hadn’t used the winky face, it would have been easier. 

 

_ dal i kno ur there answer ur phone _

 

_...babe _

 

_ come on dont be fuckign rude _

 

Dallon sighed and looked up from his phone, wondering what Brendon was doing. Or if he really meant that babe text. Brendon wasn't doing much, though. He was just sitting there, shirtless and staring at his phone. His other hand was in his lap, tapping against his leg. Dallon rearranged himself so that his legs were criss-crossed on the bed. 

 

_ to forehead: sorry I was unpacking. Glad they believed us bc that was a lot of acting.  _

 

It had not been a lot of acting. Dallon had really enjoyed making out with Brendon. He was also half hard and really glad that band practice happened in an outdoor environment that kept most people from wearing tight pants. Dallon didn’t need Brendon finding out about Dallon’s feelings because of his dick. That would ruin everything.

 

_ forehead: ok cool hope it wasnt too much dont want to freak u out dude _

 

Dallon looked up to see Brendon worrying his lower lip with his teeth. At least Dallon wasn’t the only one unsure about this whole fake dating thing. Brendon had it easier, though, because he wasn’t crushing on his fake boyfriend and he didn’t have to remind himself all the time that it wasn’t real and that it would be over as soon as homecoming ended.

 

_ to forehead: you’re fine. I need to do homework, though. Have a good night :) _

 

Dallon almost didn’t add the smiley, because he didn’t want to make things weird. But then he figured that if Brendon could get away with platonically calling Dallon babe and adding a wink face to the end of a text, then Dallon could finish off his goodnight text with a smile. It was only a smile, after all, smiley faces weren’t even that sexual.

  
Speaking of sexual, though, Dallon had a problem in his pants that hadn’t gone away. Watching Brendon hadn’t made it better, and Dallon knew that he wouldn’t be able to get his homework done unless he fixed this first. So he set his phone down and undid the zipper of his shorts, putting his other hand to his mouth to feel how his lips were swollen from kissing Brendon. Dallon closed his eyes and leaned back, letting out a soft “fuck.” because there was no better way to describe his situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo or a comment or both!


	6. The Twist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dallon and Brendon have been doing things other than pining over each other for the last five chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter is longer than the others but I wrote it really fast for some reason. I don't know, I guess I just got a lot of inspiration or something.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I hope no one minds that I posted twice in one week!

It was two Fridays before homecoming and the band was huddled together on the guest side of the football field, using their third quarter break to discuss their plans for the upcoming week. Things had been going splendidly; Lindsey had used her connections with the cheerleading squad to get extra tampons and the football players had been so grossed out that they refused to use the locker rooms until they got cleaned out. The cheerleaders had refused to give up their own, saying that a little blood wouldn’t scare real men and that the football team would just have to suck it up or change in the bathroom.

 

They had changed in the bathrooms, and when Frank and Ray slipped in afterwards to see if there was anything they could steal, they’d noticed that all the homophobic graffiti was gone. Dallon considered that a win.

 

He was sitting in a circle with most of the band, enjoying a Dr. Pepper (because the guest side concession stand consistently had better options for some reason) and listening to Frank, Lindsey, and Brendon discuss things. Ray was sitting beside Dallon, and watching the conversation as well, apparently content to sit back and enjoy his food while the three others hashed it all out. 

 

Dallon took another drink from his Dr. Pepper. “So, Ray, are you going to be a part of the big gay homecoming?”

 

“Yeah, me and Frank are actually going together.” Ray said. “As friends, obviously, because I’m dating Christa and Frank’s got his eyes on someone else--duh--but we’re doing it. I’ve even got Christa’s permission to slow dance with him if he wants to.”

 

“Do you think he will?” Dallon said. He glanced around, to see if Gee or Frank were within hearing range. Neither of them were; Frank was gesturing aggressively across the circle and Gee was watching him with wide eyes while they drank from their bottle of Coke, leaving lipstick stains on the edge of the bottle. Dallon put the cap back on his Dr. Pepper, loosely because he wasn’t done. “Or is he going to consider that cheating on Gee? Those two are practically dating now, and I’m pretty sure that Gee’s into Frank.”

 

“They are into him.” Ray said, nodding in confirmation. “They told me earlier this week, so I’m guessing it’s pretty new.”

 

“Oh, shit.” Dallon said. “Do we need to make a new betting pool on who’s going to ask the other out now?”

 

“Depends. Should the band make one about when you and Brendon are going to become actual boyfriends?” Ray asked, raising his eyebrows. Dallon could feel the blush cross his face; he was pretty sure he was redder than Gee’s lipstick. He slunk down against the chain link fence separating the spectators from the field and brought his knees up to his chest. “Brendon isn’t interested in me like that. He would have done something already if he was.”

 

“Yes, because fake dating doesn’t count as  _ doing something _ .” Ray rolled his eyes. Dallon glared at him. “You’re fake dating Frank.”

 

“I’m taking him to prom with permission from my girlfriend of three and a half years.” Ray said. “Brendon broke up with his last girlfriend two days before he started fake dating you, and you’ve been fake dating for longer than any of his real relationships have lasted.”

 

“Don’t get my hopes up, Ray, please.” Dallon said, because he didn’t want to think about how it could be real when he knew it wasn’t, and it never would be. Brendon didn’t date people like him. Brendon didn’t even look twice at people like him. If Dallon didn’t live next door to Brendon, or if Dallon wasn’t in band with him, they wouldn’t be friends, let alone boyfriends. Fake boyfriends, but still. The point was still there. Boys like Brendon didn’t go after boys like Dallon unless there was something else happening behind the scenes, like a band-wide campaign to get the gays accepted in high school.

 

“Alright, I’ll let it go.” Ray said, because he was a nice person. Usually. When he wasn’t being a little shit and trying to make people take risks they weren’t sure about. Dallon smiled at him. “Thanks, man. And good luck with Frank, I heard he’s really bad at dancing.”

 

“I know.” Ray said. “He also really hates school dances, but that might be because he can’t go to them with Gee and so he just avoids them completely. It’s kind of hilarious.”

 

“Yeah. Hey, when is student council supposed to be announcing homecoming court?” Dallon asked, hoping to God that it came off as casual. He and Brendon had come up with the plan, which was very much illegal and involved a lot of conversations with people that Dallon didn’t know about things he didn’t want his parents to ever know about. Hayley Williams and Christa were involved, as well as Brendon’s connections with the drama department. Even with all the help that Brendon and Dallon had been getting, Dallon was pretty sure that Brendon had messed with some of the tally numbers. 

 

“After the game’s over, before everyone rushes the field.” Ray said. “I heard the student section was pissed, but I don’t really care because it means we got to march at half time instead of listening to a bunch of names get rattled off.”

 

Dallon nodded, and finished off the rest of his Dr. Pepper. He could feel Ray watching him out of the corner of his eye. “Dallon.”

 

Dallon turned to Ray, feigning innocence. “Yeah?”

 

“Why do you care?” Ray asked. “What did you do?”

 

“You’ll see. It’s nothing bad, so don’t worry.” Dallon said. He hoped it wouldn’t be anything bad. He also hoped that Gee and Lindsey would forgive him, or at least go after Brendon first so that he could try to escape. It wouldn’t be bad, though. It might be mildly embarrassing for the people involved, but nothing bad was going to happen to the people elected to homecoming court. Dallon had made that explicitly clear when he pitched the idea to Brendon over text.

 

* * *

 

Belleville won, which wasn’t that much of a surprise since the football team had yet to lose a game that season. Right after the band finished playing the fight song, Brendon hopped down from his pedestal and ran up the bleachers to Dallon. Dallon moved over to give him room, setting his sousa down on his other side. Brendon looked smug. Dallon wanted to kiss him. Dallon didn’t kiss him. “How do think they’re going to react?”

 

“They’re gonna blame Lindsey, I can feel it.” Brendon said. “They’re gonna think it was her idea, but it’s not. And then when Lindsey’s name gets called she’s going to hang me with her trombone and I will accept death.”

 

“I’ll try and save you.” Dallon said, turning away from Brendon as the president of student council took the stage, Hayley Williams right behind him. Hayley was the VP, and Dallon was really glad that she and Lindsey were dating again. It made his plan so much easier to do. 

 

The two boys waited impatiently as the president read off the names of the underclass girls who made homecoming court. Brendon tapped his foot against the bleacher in front of them, and Dallon reached out to put his hand on Brendon’s knee and stop him without really thinking about it. Brendon put his hand on top of Dallon’s and squeezed. Brendon might have been making this more dramatic than it needed to be, but Dallon was too engrossed to care. He just wanted to see if his plan had worked, and how people would react.

 

The president flipped to his next notecard and Dallon turned to Brendon to ask, “You did make sure they both got on the court, right?”

 

“I did more than that.” Brendon said, grinning. “We have a future queen in our midst.”

 

Dallon rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, Brendon, that is the most cliche thing you could do.”

 

“No it’s not,” Brendon said, putting his other hand to Dallon’s mouth to stop him from asking any more questions. “Now shut up and pay attention. I’ll start making sense in a minute.”

 

Dallon rolled his eyes, but he did turn back to the field to hear the student council president start listing off names for the senior court. There were five girls every year who were on the senior court, and then a sixth girl who was the homecoming queen. The underclassmen had two court members each. Dallon didn’t get the system, but he also wasn’t a girl or interested in girls and so he figured it was okay that he didn’t really understand it. He just knew how to exploit it, and that was all that mattered. 

 

The president read off the first four names and then paused, a look of confusion crossing his face. Dallon grinned as Hayley, still in her cheerleader uniform, leaned across him and pushed him away from the podium. She plucked the papers from his hands and, with a broad, winning smile on her face, said, “and our fifth member of the senior homecoming court is Gee Way!”

 

The rest of the stadium had no time to be confused because the band immediately started screaming and clapping, and some of the percussion section picked up their instruments and started to beat out various rhythms. Brendon was up on his feet, screaming like fans did when the football team won. Gee was down at the front of the band, and they looked very startled. Dallon stood up and grabbed Brendon’s arm, dragging him down to the front of the band. He only let go once they were in front of Gee. Dallon hugged Gee. “Go down there, Gee! Get your fucking crown!”

 

“I didn’t even try to get on, what the fuck?” Gee said, half into Dallon’s armpit. “I can’t go down there!”

 

“You’re not going alone, don’t worry.” Brendon said, turning the hug into a group hug. “But, seriously, you need to get down there. They won’t announce the queen until all the princesses are on the field and have their little sashes.”

 

Gee wiggled out from under Dallon and Brendon, and the group hug broke apart. Gee glared the two boys down. “I’m going to get you both back for this.”

 

“That’s fine.” Brendon said, smiling because he had already accepted his own death. “Go get your crown.”

 

Gee flicked him off before turning around and making their way down onto the field, running their hands though their hair to try and make it look tamed as they went. The student council president stared at them at first, but then Hayley leaned over and whispered something into his ear, and he smiled warmly at Gee and sashed them. Gee stared down at the sash as they took their place with the other girls. 

 

Dallon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Lindsey standing between him and Brendon. Her hat was off and her hair was loose, but her makeup was perfect and she looked ready to go in for the kill if needed. She was watching the field. “Thanks for not making Gee queen. That would have been too cliche and also would have been a bad idea. They told me they were kind of tired of being the centre of attention all the time, but I think once they stop panicking they’ll appreciate what you did.”

 

“So, you’re not going to kill us?” Brendon said tentatively. Lindsey pursed her lips. “Depends on if Hayley’s the queen or not. I heard you say that Gee wouldn’t be on their own up there.”

 

“They won’t be.” Dallon said, shooting Brendon a look because Hayley wasn’t on the list for potential homecoming queens. 

 

Hayley smiled and looked back to her piece of paper. “And this year’s homecoming queen will be… Lindsey Ballato! Congratulations, Lindsey!”

 

Lindsey dropped her hands from Dallon and Brendon’s shoulders. “What the fuck.”

 

“Told you so.” Brendon said. Lindsey kicked him in the shin. Dallon thought he kind of deserved it, but backed away from her anyway because he didn’t want to get assaulted as well. She turned to look up at him. “Should I make this into a gay thing?”

 

“Make it as gay as you want.” Dallon said, getting a thumbs-up from Brendon. Lindsey obviously hadn’t kicked him too hard. She grinned. “That’s a dangerous thing to say, Mr. Weekes, but fine. If you insist, I’ll make it super fucking gay.”

 

And she did. Lindsey walked down onto the field like she owned the place. She accepted the crown and the over-embellished sash from the student council president just like every queen before her, and then turned to Hayley and kissed her, dipping her like they were in a 1940’s movie and Lindsey had just returned from the war. It was very gay, and there were some strange looks given, but the band once again was so loud and supportive that any jeering assholes were blocked out by the sound of Kitty and the other percussionists. 

 

Brendon wrapped an arm around Dallon’s waist, pulling him in. “What a beautiful sight, right Dal?”

 

“Yeah.” Dallon grinned, wrapping his arm around Brendon’s shoulders. Because it was, and it meant that they were finally getting their point across.

 

* * *

 

Gee showed up at Brendon’s house on Wednesday with their hair bright red again and looking like they had just gotten back from a really nice hair salon. That was saying something, considering that their mom worked at a hair salon and did most of the band’s hair when they needed it. The difference was that Gee looked feminine. More feminine than they usually tried to be, and they also looked a little uncomfortable.

 

Dallon let them in and asked if they wanted a drink or something because Dallon was a better host than Brendon, even when he was at Brendon’s house. 

 

“No, I need to talk to Brendon. He is here, right?” Gee asked. They reached a hand up towards their hair and then brought it back down, like they had just remembered that it was done up and they didn't want to ruin it. 

 

“Yeah, he's here.” Dallon said. “He's up in his room.”

 

Gee nodded, and then followed Dallon up to Brendon's room when he realised that Gee probably didn't know the inside of Brendon's house like Dallon did. They came to some of his parties, but one of the party rules that Dallon had picked up was that you didn't go upstairs unless you were hooking up with someone. As far as Dallon knew, Gee hadn't hooked up with anyone at any of Brendon's parties. 

 

The two of them found Brendon on his bed, with Sinatra blaring in the background as Brendon sang along loudly and on key. Dallon grabbed Brendon's leg and pulled, and Brendon let out a squawk. He sat up and turned the music down without looking like a complete idiot, though, so Dallon was impressed. 

 

Dallon closed the door behind Gee. “Gee's here.”

 

“Hey.” Gee said, sitting down on Brendon's soft, fuzzy chair that Dallon always used and loved more than pretty much anything. Dallon frowned and sat down on the edge of Brendon's desk, out of the way. 

 

“So, I have a problem.” Gee started. Brendon sat up and crossed his legs, leaning forward and resting his chin in his palm. “You have my attention. Carry on.”

 

“Straight girls are terrifying and I'm sorry that you've dated most of them.” Gee said, and Dallon let out a snort, because  _ same.  _ Gee glanced over their shoulder and Dallon waved them off, letting them know that his amusement didn't come at a cost to them. They turned back around to Brendon. “They're not mean, which is nice, but they're dead set on getting me a date for homecoming and I'm not sure how to explain to them that I don't want to go with one of their straight guy friends. I've met some of the guy friends and they're all annoying.”

 

“Straight boys tend to be.” Brendon said, as if he had experience with actual straight boys. He might, considering that he had a social life outside of band and sometimes there were parties at his house where Dallon wasn’t dragged over because they weren’t band parties. Dallon didn't interact with real straight boys, because the only straight boys he knew were kids from his church (who he tended to avoid) and Ray. And Ray didn't really count as straight. He was in the band. He couldn't be completely straight. 

 

“You could always tell them you wanted a female date?” Dallon suggested. Gee turned around again. “I'm pretty sure that Lindsey is the first lesbian they've ever met. Hayley doesn't count because I don't think any of the girls know about her yet, and the cheerleading squad doesn't count because they told me they try not to associate with cheerleaders because cheerleaders are--in their words-- _ total idiot sluts. _ ”

 

“I take offense to that and I'm not even a cheerleader.” Brendon said. He frowned. “Why are they so obsessed with getting you a date, anyway?”

 

“Because apparently if I'm going to be a real princess, I need to have a prince.” Gee said, sounding like they were repeating a rehearsed statement. They reached up and ran a hand through their hair, giving up on keeping themselves perfect and feminine. “They're all really insistent about it too. Lindsey's still there, and I got out because I texted Mikey and made him call me and lie about some catastrophe. Lindsey's probably going to kill me for leaving her alone there, but it's whatever. It was her idea, anyway.”

 

Brendon made a face. “To go and get pampered with a bunch of non band kids?”

 

“No…” Gee said, furrowing their eyebrows. “To put us on the homecoming court as a big  _ fuck you _ to the school. That was her idea, right?”

 

“No, that was Dallon.” Brendon said. Dallon waved, even though Gee knew that he had been there the whole time. Gee pressed their hand to their mouth. “Oh. So I just left her alone with four rampant straight girls for no reason.”

 

“Knowing Lindsey, I doubt she’ll have a problem with that.” Brendon said. “She did turn all of the cheerleaders gay last year. There were fourteen of them, and there are only four princesses. I think she’ll be fine on her own.”

 

“No, I mean they’re really, really rampant.” Gee said. “Lindsey had to explain what being a lesbian meant, because they kept asking her which guy she was taking to homecoming and she kept telling them that she was taking a girl.”

 

Brendon grinned and laid back down on his bed, his shirt riding up a little so that the waistband of his underwear was visible. Dallon tried not to stare too hard. Brendon laughed and rolled over to his side, propping his head up. “Oh man, we are going to blow their minds at homecoming.”

 

“True.” Gee said. “But I need to borrow one of your boyfriends.”

 

Brendon raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

 

“Because I need a guy who won’t try to feel me up at dinner, and most of the guys you’ve dated are gay.” Gee said. They turned around to face Dallon again. “I’d ask you, but you’re already going with Brendon and I don’t want to make things awkward between the two of you.”

 

“We’re not really dating, Gee.” Brendon said. “You can take Dallon to homecoming if you want to. And if he wants to.”

 

Dallon tightened his grip on the desk, willing himself not to say anything. He knew that what he had with Brendon wasn’t real, and that it would have to end eventually, but he didn’t want it to. He liked dating Brendon. He  _ liked Brendon. _ He had no problem taking Gee to homecoming to make their life easier, but he was feeling selfish and he wanted to get Brendon to himself.

 

“It’s fine. I’ll deal with whatever straight guy the girls give me.” Gee said, waving Brendon off. Dallon relaxed, and then felt guilty for doing so. He wouldn’t have a problem going to homecoming with Gee, because the two of them got along pretty well (considering they were both giant nerds) and Gee was right: Dallon wouldn’t try to do anything to them. They deserved a better homecoming date than some random straight guy, who would probably spend the entire evening trying to get into their pants and make Gee feel really awkward. Dallon sat up. “You don’t have to do that, Gee. I’ll be your beard, or whatever the word is.”

 

“Thanks, but I don’t want to ruin what you and Brendon have.” Gee said. Dallon purposely did not look over at Brendon. “What me and Brendon have?”

 

“Yeah. The two of you are a really convincing couple, and since we’re trying to make homecoming gay, we need all the gay we can get.” Gee said. “That, and fake dating Brendon means you can get into all the cool after parties. I probably can, since I’m on the court and all, but I really don’t want to go to any of them.”

 

“And you think I do?” Dallon asked. He had never been to a party that Brendon wasn’t hosting. He had heard about them, but he wasn’t high enough on the social totem pole to be invited. 

 

Gee shrugged. “Maybe?”

 

“There’s one this Friday, kind of as a pre-homecoming thing.” Brendon said. He was staring right at Dallon, and if Dallon didn’t know any better, he would call the look predatory. “We could stage it to look like you and Gee hook up and I get pissed off and dump Dallon. It would be dramatic and memorable, and it would get you a gay date to homecoming.”

 

“I already told you I wasn’t going to make things awkward between the two of you. Fake hooking up with your fake boyfriend would qualify as making things awkward.” Gee said. 

 

“No it wouldn’t.” Brendon said. Dallon narrowed his eyes, wondering why Brendon was suddenly dead set on getting rid of him. “Yeah it will. And I don’t want people at school to start saying that I’m a cheater when I’m not. I don’t have anyone to cheat on!”

 

“ _ Or _ …” Gee drawled out, raising their hand like they were in class. “Or I could go with a straight guy and stab him with a fork if he tries to touch me. I’m not completely helpless, you know.”

 

“Or you could do that.” Dallon said, before Brendon could come up with a new idea of how to get out of fake dating Dallon. Dallon knew that Brendon didn’t want to actually date him, but he didn’t have to make it so obvious and he didn’t need to use Gee like that. Gee should have been able to pick their date on their own, not get stuck with someone Brendon didn’t want. 

 

Gee looked between the two of them and stood up, straightening their skirt and slowly moving towards the door. “Well, thanks for listening. Um, I’ll let you know if I need anything else. Have a great life.”

 

Dallon waited until Brendon’s door closed behind Gee and then turned back to him. “So.”

 

“Same to you, buddy.” Brendon said. “Are you allergic to Gee or something? I was just trying to get you a real date.”

 

“Gee and I would be going as friends, same as you and I are.” Dallon crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't really care who I end up going with” (that was a lie) “but if I'm keeping you from someone else you want to actually be dating, tell me outright. I'm your friend, not your boyfriend” (he wanted to be both) “I can handle a rejection.”

 

Brendon lowered his head, his hair falling into his face in strands. “I want to go with you, Dallon. You're my best friend, and I know I can be an asshole sometimes, but I wouldn't want to do this without you. I want you as my fake boyfriend. And real friend.”

 

Dallon got up off the desk and moved over to Brendon's bed. He sat down on the edge of it and placed a hand on Brendon's back, rubbing gently. “Okay. I want to be your fake boyfriend and real friend too.”

 

“Fuck yeah.” Brendon said, a weak smile on his face. Dallon wished he could kiss it and make it better. He didn't. He just pulled Brendon closer and said, “so, you mentioned a pre-homecoming party? What do I need to do to look like I belong there? Asking as your boyfriend, of course.”

 

Brendon grinned up at Dallon. Dallon was a little bit in love with him at that moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed it!


	7. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Queen arrives. Her name is Sarah Orzechowski and she knows Brendon. Dallon isn't sure how he feels about her yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, Sarah Urie is super important and I'm surprised that I haven't introduced her yet. I'm a bad person. Second of all, there won't be a love triangle between her, Brendon, and Dallon, because I don't like love triangles in fanfictions, especially where the girl gets villainised because she got in the way of the ship. 
> 
> Third of all, I realise that this is a little late, but when you read it I think you'll forgive me.

The party was dark and loud and Dallon was glad to be holding on to Brendon's hand as the two of them moved through the house. Dallon recognised most of the people there, but he had never talked to any of them and most of them were looking him up and down to see if he passed their tests. Dallon had no idea if he was passing or not, but he knew that if he wasn't with Brendon, he would have gotten kicked out already. This wasn't his kind of party. This was the cliche high school party scene in a movie, with the loud club music and the crazy lights and a fuckton of alcohol. 

 

He pressed up against Brendon's back, leaning down to rest his chin on Brendon's shoulder. “Is this what normal high school parties are like?”

 

“Are you saying mine don't count as normal?” Brendon leaned back and pecked Dallon on the cheek. It made sense, considering they were at a party where everyone thought they were actually dating and that there was mutual attraction and not just Dallon's wishful thinking. 

 

Dallon considered leaning over to kiss Brendon properly but decided against it. He didn't want to push the whole boyfriends thing too much. “Well, I mean your shindigs are the only parties I've been to, so I don't have a point of comparison.”

 

“I can’t believe you just said ‘shindigs’ with a straight face.” Brendon said. He leaned back into Dallon, resting the back of his head in the crook of Dallon’s neck. “You’re a fucking dork, you know that, right?”

 

“You’ve told me that a few times, yeah.” Dallon said, wrapping his arms around Brendon. Apparently the two of them were really going to play up the couple thing. Dallon wondered if this was Brendon’s way of being dramatic. After all, homecoming was tomorrow, and then after that he and Brendon wouldn’t have to be fake dating anymore. Brendon probably wanted to end their relationship on a big, dramatic, gay scene, because that was the kind of guy he was. 

 

“Oh, Brendon, didn't know you were back on doing the gay thing.” A guy with soft looking blonde hair and his arm around a pretty brunette walked up to Dallon and Brendon. He looked Dallon up and down. “Yeah, he looks like one of your usual fags.”

 

“Oh my  _ God, _ Luke, you can't  _ say _ that about people.” The girl said, and elbowed Luke in the stomach. Luke frowned down at her. “Sarah, come on. I call Brendon a fag all the time. He doesn't care.”

 

“Or maybe I just didn't feel like making a big deal about it.” Brendon snapped, and Dallon could feel him tensing under his arms. Dallon pulled Brendon in closer because it was too early in the party for Brendon to be fighting people. He wasn't Frank. He couldn't just get away with swinging punches because someone was talking shit. Brendon lifted his head. “And you didn't call me a fag, you called Dallon one. And that's not okay, dickface.”

 

“Brendon.” Luke started, but he didn't get to make excuses because Brendon was wiggling under Dallon's arm and, honestly, Dallon didn't really care about Brendon fighting this guy. If Luke was going to be an asshole, then Dallon was going to let Brendon go at it. Dallon might even join him if the fight got interesting. 

 

“Shut the fuck up and don't ever insult me or my boyfriend again. And if you can't wrap your head around the idea that my current partner doesn't define my entire sexuality, I suggest you whip out your fucking iPhone, open safari or whatever, and Google the Goddamn definition of bisexual.” Brendon said, leaving Dallon's arms and getting up in Luke's face. Luke looked a little stunned, but the girl, Sarah, was giggling. Dallon moved over to her while Brendon continued to explain sexuality to Luke. Because Brendon really did like the sound of his own voice and he had no problem going on for hours once he got started on a subject. Dallon could probably go off into a corner for an hour and come back to see Brendon still talking to Luke about gay details. 

 

He wouldn't, though, because he didn't know anyone else here and he was afraid of losing Brendon. 

 

“So, how'd you and Brendon meet?” Sarah asked. She took a drink from her cup of punch. Dallon was pretty sure it was spiked. He leaned against the wall. “We're in band together, and we live next door to each other. We just kinda grew up together, and then one day I was over at his house and he kisses me.”

 

“Were you expecting it?” Sarah said, her eyes wide and curious. Dallon was glad that he and Brendon had made up their backstory together, otherwise he'd be improvising the shit out of this conversation and probably get himself and Brendon caught. Dallon didn't want to be the reason their fake relationship ended. Even though he knew it wasn't real, he still wanted it to last. 

 

“No, but I'd started crushing on him a few weeks before so it wasn't like he had to seduce me or anything. He tried to, of course, because he's Brendon and that's what he does.” Dallon said, and he smiled a little, looking over at Brendon and wondering what it would be like if Brendon actually did try to seduce him. Dallon probably would have hated it, because he hated when Brendon pretended to be something he wasn't. Brendon was suave sometimes, but he was also an endearing little dork and that version of Brendon was the one that Dallon liked best. “I saw through it, though, and I told him that if he wanted to be my boyfriend, all he had to do was ask me out.”

 

“I'm assuming he did.” Sarah said. Dallon nodded. “Yeah. I think he's really into me,”  _ I wish he was even a little bit into me _ “considering how long we've been together.”

 

“Hey, if you make it through tomorrow, you're sure to get laid.” Sarah said, tilting her cup up towards him. If only she knew how wrong she was. Dallon let out a laugh anyway. “Yeah. At least I have that to look forward to. That, and seeing him in a suit.”

 

“Ooh, you've got a thing for men in suits.” Sarah said. She was smirking up at him. Dallon ducked his head. “Yeah. Who doesn't, though?”

 

“True. But have you considered  _ women _ in suits?” Sarah countered. Dallon, having been in marching band for the past three years of his life, completely missed the fact that she was a popular girl talking about other girls being attractive, and immediately jumped to, “not really. I'm gay.”

 

“I'm bi.” Sarah said. She took another sip of her drink. “Your friend Lindsey helped me figure that out last year.”

 

Dallon snorted. So Lindsey really was a magical lesbian. Sarah had to be a cheerleader, then, if Lindsey had been the one to turn her bisexual. 

 

“She's kinda hot, and I'm still a little into her.” Sarah said. She cut her eyes over to Brendon and Luke. “I'm breaking up with Luke once homecoming’s over because he keeps trying to get me and one of my friends to have a threesome with him. I don't like her like that, and just because I'm bi doesn't mean I want to have threesomes anyway. Also, Luke's kind of an ass and Lindsey seems badass. I've never dated a girl before; I think she'd be a good girlfriend.”

 

“I don't know her relationship status, but I'll let her know you're interested, if you want?” Dallon asked. He figured that Sarah wanted Lindsey to know, otherwise why would she be telling Dallon all of this. 

 

Brendon reappeared, and Luke was nowhere to be seen. He loosely wound his arms around Dallon's neck and pulled him down for a kiss. It wasn't a quick little peck, either. Brendon ran his fingers up into Dallon's hair and parted his lips almost immediately so that Dallon could lick into Brendon's mouth. Not knowing why Brendon decided a make out was necessary (but definitely not going to question it), Dallon kissed back, his hands on Brendon's waist, pulling him in and humming against Brendon's mouth as he pressed his tongue against Brendon's. Brendon made a noise into Dallon's mouth that was drowned out by the music, and Dallon pulled his tongue back into his own mouth so that he could bite at Brendon's lower lip and tug at it. He let go of Brendon's lip, pressed a short kiss to his lips, and pulled back. “Hey. You miss me while you were protecting my honour?”

 

“I'm always missing you.” Brendon said like it was some little couple thing they had. He rubbed his thumb across Dallon's cheek before letting go of him. “Are you making friends without me?”

 

“Yeah. Brendon, this is Sarah.” Dallon removed a hand from Brendon's waist to motion to Sarah, who looked like Brendin and Dallon's coupley antics were amusing. “And Sarah, this is Brendon.”

 

“I know Brendon.” Sarah said. Brendon stopped pretending to be in love with Dallon to look over at her. When he did, his eyes went wide. “Ooh! You're the girl with the long ass last name in drama! The cheerleader!”

 

“You're the guy with the forehead and nice hair in drama! The band geek!” She shouted back, slightly sarcastic with a grin on her face. Brendon stuck his tongue out at her, but it was obvious that there was no real animosity between the two of them. Brendon grabbed Dallon's hand and interlaced their fingers together. “Dal, I know Sarah. She's super cool; we've been in the same drama class since ninth grade. She got the female lead last spring and did fucking incredible.”

 

“Should I be worried that he's going to leave me for you?” Dallon asked. Sarah shook her head. “Not at all. Brendon's had a crush on you since forever.”

 

Dallon screamed. Internally, of course, because he wasn't weird and he didn't start screaming in public for no apparent reason. Why would Sarah think that Brendon had a crush on him? Brendon didn’t like Dallon, unless he did, and if he did, why was he dating everyone else in the school besides Dallon? Dallon had fucked up. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact thing he did to fuck up, but he had, and now he was stuck in a double-pining clusterfuck full of miscommunications. There was no way to tell Brendon that his feelings for Dallon were returned without Brendon assuming that Dallon was just acting, and Dallon wouldn’t have time to tell Brendon before homecoming and the dramatic breakup.

 

Brendon rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, I said I had a cute best friend  _ one time _ , Sarah. Don’t try and embarrass me.”

 

“You said Dallon was cute more than once.” Sarah said, and she was really getting into it, like it was now her job to embarrass Brendon. Dallon’s chest was constricting painfully and he needed to breathe for about ten minutes before he could do anything else. Sarah took another drink from her cup and said, “I think you said he was hot once, but that was when we all got stoned before dress rehearsal so I could be making that up.”

 

Dallon turned to Brendon. “You thought I was hot?”

 

“I was stoned, it didn’t count.” Brendon said, and then leaned up on his tiptoes to kiss the end of Dallon’s nose. “I think you’re hot now, though, so that’s all that matters.”

 

“Yeah,” Dallon breathed out, because his mind and his mouth weren’t very well connected at that moment so he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be saying. He and Brendon hadn’t come up with a script for this situation, where someone brought up any of Brendon’s stoned (or drunk, whatever) ramblings that only happened because he was stoned (or drunk). Brendon was right saying that anything he said while stoned didn’t count, because Brendon was one of those affectionate stoners. Frank was giggly, and Ray turned into a sage old grandpa, spewing out wisdom that didn’t make sense when sober. Dallon hadn’t seen any of his other friends stoned so he didn’t know what they were like. 

 

Dallon tipped Brendon’s chin up and kissed him on the lips. He pulled back, barely, and spoke against Brendon’s mouth. “I’m gonna go find the drinks. Do you want me to get you anything?”

 

“I’ll take whatever you’re having.” Brendon said, and pulled Dallon down to kiss him again. Dallon kissed back, but he didn’t try to make it anything more than a kiss because he really did need to get something to drink. His throat was dry and he was too sober to be dealing with an unnecessarily attractive Brendon who kept kissing him. He pulled back and headed to the kitchen, because that was where Brendon kept his drinks when he hosted parties and so Dallon assumed that this party host (Dallon didn’t know the person’s name and his mother would be so ashamed of him if she found out) did the same.

 

He was right, and there was a large bucket thing and a guy in a galaxy tank top on the counter. The guy was also wearing a snapback and sunglasses and Dallon couldn’t tell if the look was meant to be ironic or not. Dallon grabbed two empty plastic cups off of the island in the middle of the kitchen and walked over to the guy sitting by the bucket. “Is this the punch?”

 

The guy raised both his sunglasses and his snapback to squint at Dallon. “Dude, who the fuck are you? Are you one of the drama kids, because I’ve never seen you before.”

 

“I’m with Brendon.” Dallon said. He motioned to the bucket. “Is that the punch, or should I check the fridge for drinks?”

 

“You’re with Brendon?” The guy asked. Dallon just wanted to know if there was alcohol in the bucket; why did this have to be so difficult? He should have never left the house. He should have just gone to church and been the good kid his parents thought he was. 

 

The guy dropped his sunglasses back onto his nose and reached out for one of Dallon’s cups. Dallon let him have it. He dipped it into the bucket thing (Dallon was beginning to suspect that it was just a rather large bowl) and handed the cup back to Dallon before taking the second cup to fill it as well. “I heard he gives good head. I heard he gives girls head too. I didn’t know that you could even  _ give  _ girls head, but whatever. If you’ve got the mouth for it, might as well use it.”

 

“I, yeah.” Dallon said, doing his best not to think about Brendon going down on, well, anyone. Because this random fuckboy looking guy was right: Brendon did have the mouth for it, and Dallon would be lying to himself if he hadn’t thought about Brendon and his mouth like that at least once. Dallon didn’t want to think about it while he was at the party because he couldn’t actually pull Brendon into the closest bathroom or wherever and have sex with him. They weren’t actually dating. They couldn’t actually hook up at a party, regardless of whether or not Brendon thought Dallon was hot when he was stoned. 

 

Dallon didn’t run back to Sarah and Brendon, because that would look embarrassing, but he walked quickly and he used his height advantage over everyone so that he didn’t spill any drinks. He figured Brendon would appreciate his efforts, and was surprised to see that more people had joined Sarah and Brendon’s little party corner while Dallon had been getting drinks. Dallon, unsurprisingly, didn’t recognise any of them, but there was one girl who seemed to be very interested in Brendon. A sharp pang of jealously went through Dallon, straight into his heart, and it was ugly but motivational. 

 

He walked up behind Brendon and leaned down, kissing the corner of Brendon’s jaw. He kissed down the side of Brendon’s neck and licked into his collarbone. He heard Brendon make a sharp gasping noise and so he raised his head and kissed Brendon directly. “Got your drink, babe.”

 

Brendon was staring at him. For a moment, Dallon wondered if he had taken it too far, and that Brendon was freaking out because he had figured out that Dallon actually liked him. Dallon didn’t want Brendon to find out like that; he wanted to tell Brendon on his own terms, or maybe never at all. Brendon wasn't freaking out, though, because he took one of the drinks from Dallon's hands and kissed Dallon softly. “You're cute when you're jealous, Dal, but you don't need to worry. I've only got eyes for you.”

 

“Aww, that's adorable.” Sarah said. Dallon wasn't sure if he liked her or not. On one hand, she seemed like a cool person, but on the other hand she knew about parts of Brendon's life that Dallon wasn't a part of and that meant that she might pull out information Dallon was supposed to know but didn't. He figured that, if he survived the next two days, he could always get to know her better without Brendon getting involved and then maybe tell her the truth, that he and Brendon were never actually dating and that Brendon didn't actually like Dallon, he just got weird when he was stoned. 

 

“So, you're dating a boy?” The girl asked. She narrowed her eyes. “But you had a girlfriend at the beginning of the year. I thought you were straight.”

 

“He's not.” Dallon said, taking a drink from his cup. Brendon nodded. “Yeah, I'm bisexual. It means that someone's gender really isn't going to be a deterrent for me. I'll date them whether they're a boy, a girl, or anywhere in between.”

 

The girl tilted her head. “So, you're like a male slut.”

 

“No, I'm just a slut.” Brendon said, raising his chin in a challenging way. It was kind of hot. “Dallon's into it. You wouldn't know from looking at him, because he looks like a cute little church boy, but he's a dirty mother fucker.”

 

“And I don't appreciate it when random people call my boyfriend a slut, so kindly back off.” Dallon said, more forcefully than he had originally intended. It worked, because the girl scowled and stepped back. She put a hand on her hip. “Whatever. At least  _ I  _ know what I want.”

 

She pushed past Brendon, Dallon, and Sarah and her group of friends all followed. Dallon dropped his head onto Brendon's shoulder. “I'm sorry, Bren. I messed up.”

 

“Are you kidding me? You're the first person I've dated who actually got her to back off.” Brendon said, carding his fingers through Dallon's hair. Dallon raised his head and frowned at Brendon. Brendon pat Dallon's head. “She was my girlfriend for like a month in sixth grade, right? And she got it into her head that she was the one for me and that we were going to last forever. We didn't, obviously, but she still thinks she has a chance with me and she harasses anyone she thinks is into me.”

 

“She harassed me once, and I've never even dated Brendon.” Sarah said. “I don't date drama friends. They're great, but they're all too demanding and high maintenance.”

 

Dallon laughed. “Brendon? High maintenance? Who would have thought?”

 

“I don't like you.” Brendon said. Dallon dipped his head down to Brendon's ear and whispered, “Consider this payback for all the weird things you've had me do the past month.”

 

Brendon turned his head so that he was staring Dallon straight on. “Fine. Payback it is. Just remember, you started this.”

 

“No I didn't.” Dallon said, a little confused. Brendon removed himself from Dallon's arms and grinned at both Sarah and Dallon. “So. I heard this house has a kick ass pool. Anyone down to stripping down to their underwear and making a gay pool party out of this mess?”

 

“Am I invited?” Sarah asked. “I'm not a guy, so I don't know if I count or not.”

 

“You're not straight, right?” Brendon asked, and Sarah nodded slowly. At least Dallon wasn't the only one who thought that this was a bad idea waiting to happen. Brendon didn't seem to care, though, and set his cup down before pulling his shirt over his head and dropping it to the floor as well. He reached over and tugged at the end of Dallon's shirt. “Come on, Dal, time to get naked and go swimming with Sarah.”

 

Dallon turned to Sarah to apologise, but she was just shrugging and taking off her shoes and shorts. She tucked her hair back behind her ears and looked up at the boys. “What? They'll start cat-calling if they see boobs. I figured we'd wait until we got into the pool to make a scene.”

  
Brendon grinned and tugged on Dallon's shirt again. “I like her. Start stripping, sweetheart. We've got some straights to terrorise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave a kudo or a comment (or both) if you enjoyed!


	8. The Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dallon meets the parents and it's not how he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that this took a while, I had a project due March 22nd and it was a tragedy because I couldn't be properly Emo, I had to do schoolwork. That's over now, and I think I know how long this is going to be so that's good. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

“I never got my shirt back.” Dallon said. He was wearing one of Brendon's, and it was loose and thin and he was shivering. Brendon made a noise and pulled the duvet up over Dallon’s head. That wasn’t what Dallon had meant, but at least he was warm. He kind of needed to pee, though, but he wasn’t awake enough to remember where Brendon’s bathroom was. He let out a sigh and turned over onto his back so that he was staring up at the underside of Brendon’s blanket. Brendon scooted over towards him and buried his face against Dallon’s shoulder. Dallon lazily ran his hands through Brendon’s hair, forgetting that they weren’t supposed to be in love until he felt another set of arms wrapping around his waist.

 

Dallon jerked upright, managing to push off both Brendon and the other person in the process. He hit his head on the wall behind Brendon’s bed, reigniting his hangover from the party the night before. 

 

Two faces were staring blearily up at him. One of them was Brendon, looking quite debauched (Dallon panicked because some of last night was a blur and he couldn’t remember just how much PDA he and Brendon had done). The other was Sarah, with her hair in her face and her makeup half smeared off. She was still pretty, and for a moment Dallon feared that Brendon had hooked up with  _ her _ last night and Dallon had just started third-wheeling without knowing. He stared down at her. “Wait, why are you in Brendon’s bed?”

 

“You two were acting really gay in the pool until some of the guys started talking shit, and then I got out and went off on them and we all ended up getting kicked out of the party.” Sarah said. She rested her chin on Dallon’s chest. “I think we stole towels from inside the house and walked back to Brendon’s because neither of you knew where I lived and you didn’t want me walking home alone at night.”

 

“We were also kind of drunk.” Brendon said. He trailed a finger down Dallon’s stomach and Dallon tried not to shiver. “And then I decided it would be a good idea to get a bottle of wine from the basement and I don’t really remember much after that except suggesting that we cuddle together for warmth.”

 

“I kind of remember that.” Dallon said. He also remembered complaining because he thought the wine tasted disgusting, more disgusting than the punch which had enough sugar and whatever else in it to mask the actual alcohol. “I think you also gave us your clothes so that we wouldn’t get hypothermia.”

 

“And yet he’s still shirtless.” Sarah said. She rolled off of Dallon and onto her back, closing her eyes. “I hate both of you, by the way. You’re making me go to homecoming hungover, and now I don’t have a date anymore because I broke up with Luke. I  _ think  _ I broke up with Luke last night, but if I didn’t I should have. That guy was an ass.”

 

“Agreed.” Brendon said into Dallon’s shoulder. He poked Dallon in the stomach. “Oh, by the way, my parents are probably making breakfast for us so I guess you’ll get to meet them as my boyfriend today.”

 

“Great.” Dallon said. He was in pain, in Brendon’s clothes, and sharing a bed with a girl that he had known for less than a day. Not that there had been any sex happening in the bend but the implications were there and Dallon didn’t want Brendon’s parents to think less of him for something that hadn’t happened. There wasn’t anything wrong with having sex (or even having sex with multiple people), but Dallon didn’t know Brendon’s parents’ opinions on polyamory and he didn’t really want to know. 

 

He was thinking about that and slowly spiraling into a pile of anxiety when he heard the door open and felt light streaming into the room. Brendon lifted his head off of Dallon and turned around. Dallon still hadn’t opened his eyes. He figured, for some reason, that if he just kept his eyes closed he wouldn’t have to deal with the Uries. He just wanted to disappear down into the comforter and not exist for a while. He just wanted to sleep. He kind of wanted to cuddle with Brendon but he was trying to ignore that part of him even though everyone in the room except for himself and Brendon thought that they were already dating.

 

“Hey mom.” Brendon said slowly, like his words were hurting his own ears. 

 

“Hey, honey. I made breakfast and coffee for you and Dallon…” there was a pause and Dallon figured that Mrs. Urie was just now noticing Sarah’s head poking out from the comforter. “...and your other friend, I guess. Hi, I’m Brendon’s mom.”

 

“I’m Sarah.” Sarah said, and she moved her arm. Dallon opened his eyes to see her waving at Mrs. Urie, who was already dressed and looked like she had her life together. He raised a hand to wave at her as well. “Hi. I’m dating your son. Sarah’s just a friend, we promise.”

 

“Yeah, I’m kind of sick of dating boys at the moment.” Sarah said, and it was kind of cool how at ease she was with her own sexuality. Dallon wished he could be like that, confident in who he was and not afraid to mention that, yeah, he was kind of really into guys and sometimes that shit just happened. He wasn’t that guy, though. He had only mentioned that he and Brendon were dating (fake dating, Dallon stubbornly reminded himself) because he knew that Brendon’s parents already knew. 

 

Mrs. Urie let out a laugh at Sarah’s comment. “I understand that, honey. Men can be a pain in the ass.”

 

“Wow, mom, thanks for being loving and supportive.” Brendon said, laying back down on Dallon’s chest, but this time on his back so that he was looking up at his mom (and kind of Dallon; Brendon was good at the whole pretending to be into Dallon game). “I’m sorry you only married into one daughter and I’m sorry I’m not a girl.”

 

“Well, Brendon, if you ever think you are one, just let me know.” Mrs. Urie said with a smile and then left the room. Dallon stared after her and Sarah sat up so that she could loom over them both. Her blue eyes were wide. “What the fuck, your mom is so cool! I came out to my mom as bisexual and she told me I was just a slut and I needed to choose a gender.”

 

“My mom told me I was a slut too, but that’s actually because I am one.” Brendon said. Dallon rolled his eyes and then regretted it because _ ow, hangover. _ Brendon leaned up and kissed Dallon's chin. “I have a lot of sex, but right now I'm just having it with Dallon.”

 

“Cute, Brendon.” Sarah said, and if Dallon hadn't been too busy staring at Brendon he would have been able to tell how serious she was. As it was, Brendon was really attractive and there was a red mark under his jaw that looked suspiciously like a hickey. Dallon had to have put that there at some point last night. Dallon remembered kissing Brendon (a lot) but he didn't remember kissing Brendon enough to leave an actual hickey. 

 

“We should probably go downstairs. My mom doesn't usually make breakfast.” Brendon said, leaning up to kiss Dallon's chin again. He sat up and slowly got out of bed, in nothing but a pair of loose boxers. Dallon was reminded that Brendon Urie had the best ass in the entire school. Sarah poked him with her elbow. Dallon looked over to her and he could feel his face heating up. She grinned at him. “You’re being obvious.”

 

“Shut up.” Dallon whispered back, his face going even more red. He wanted to bury his face in one of Brendon’s pillows, but that would make his embarrassment more obvious and he didn’t want Brendon to know he’d been staring at his ass. Brendon knew he had a nice ass, he didn’t need Dallon to validate that for him. 

 

Brendon turned around with a pair of jeans in one hand and his other one on his hip. “Are you two laughing at me behind my back? Because that’s fucking rude.”

 

“I’m laughing at Dallon.” Sarah said. Dallon dropped his hand over his eyes. “I’m wishing for death.”

 

“Don’t do that, babe. I’d miss you if you died.” Brendon said, and then he was on top of Dallon and kissing him gently. Sarah made an “eww” noise but Dallon was more focused on kissing Brendon than anything else. Brendon kissed Dallon’s nose and then pulled back, running his hand down Dallon’s arm to pull him up by his wrist. “Come on. Food.”

 

“Meeting the parents.” Dallon said, but he got out of bed anyway and the three of them headed downstairs. Brendon’s parents were already seated at the kitchen table and there was actual food in the center. It looked like something out of a movie, and Dallon was impressed. He then remembered that this was the moment he would be meeting Brendon’s parents as Brendon’s boyfriend and his opinion shifted from impressed to terrified. Dallon was in Brendon’s clothes, unshowered and with his hair doing who knows what. And Brendon had a line of hickeys down the side of his neck that had to have come from Dallon at some point, which just made everything worse because now Brendon’s parents would think that Dallon was some kind of sex freak or something and was going to corrupt their child.

 

Of course, that was when Brendon smacked Dallon’s ass and Dallon remembered that Brendon was already corrupted.

 

* * *

 

The Urie’s were surprisingly friendly to Dallon, most likely because Sarah was there and they didn’t want to scare her or anything. Dallon didn’t think that they would, because Sarah was on top of her game even though she’d had more to drink the night before and she was smaller than Brendon and Dallon both. If she was hungover, she was hiding it well and Dallon was impressed. He wouldn’t be too jealous if Brendon left him for Sarah when all this was over.

 

Mr. Urie took a sip from his coffee. “Sarah, you’re not dating Brendon too, are you?”

 

“No, I don’t date drama friends.” Sarah said. “I try not to mix friends with dating because I know them all too well and it would be weird. If I tried to date Brendon I would feel like I was dating my brother, and I’m not a fan of incest, sorry.”

 

“Oh, no, we don’t have a problem with that.” Mrs. Urie said, passing the croissants over the table. Brendon grabbed one and Mrs. Urie gave him a smile. “I'm not a fan of incest either, but I don't have a problem with polyamory. Your father and I were actually in a polyamorous relationship with three other people in college. It didn’t work out, and I was just stuck with him.”

 

“Oh my God,  _ mom,  _ you can’t just say that.” Brendon said, pressing the palms of his hands to his face and slumping down in his chair to the point that only the top of his head was visible. Dallon was stunned, and he looked over to Sarah, hoping that she was at least somewhat thrown off. She was. She was staring at Mrs. Urie with her eyes wide and eyebrows scrunched together. Her mouth was slightly open and her fork was hanging limply from her hand. Dallon stared extra hard at her as Mr. Urie checked his phone and continued to sip on his coffee, and she finally made eye contact with him. 

 

“I should probably go home.” Sarah set her fork down and started to stand up. Slowly, like she was afraid Brendon’s parents would start sharing more information if she moved too quickly. “I need to get ready for homecoming anyway,and my mom is probably worried about me. It was nice meeting you two, though. Really nice.”

 

“Dallon and I can take you home if you want.” Brendon said from behind his hands and the table. Sarah agreed, and Brendon got up, herding the both of them out of the house and into Brendon’s car. The drive to Sarah’s house was quiet except for the radio, playing the Rent soundtrack, and Sarah giving Brendon directions as necessary. Dallon felt the awkwardness all the way from the backseat, but he knew it wasn’t anyone in the car’s fault. Brendon just had weird parents who were comfortable enough with their sex life to talk about it in front of their son and his friends. Or maybe that was their way of interrogating Dallon to see if he was good enough for Brendon. Dallon had no idea if he had passed or not, but he was glad he wasn’t Brendon’s real boyfriend. In a few weeks, he and Brendon would be able to laugh at this. 

 

Hell, Sarah might even be able to laugh at it with them, assuming Brendon didn’t make his break up with Dallon too dramatic and made Sarah feel like she had to pick a side.

 

Sarah thanked Brendon for the ride and then disappeared into her house, which was nice but not as ridiculously huge as the one from the party last night. Brendon turned around to face Dallon. “Do you want shotgun or do you want to stay in the back?”

 

“I’ll get shotgun.” Dallon said, and moved to the front seat. Once he was there, Brendon pulled out of the driveway and Dallon turned to him. “So, was what your mom said true or was that just to scare me?”

 

“It’s true, unfortunately.” Brendon said. “My older sister and my two older brother’s are my dad and one of the orgy’s kids. Their mom had them and then decided that she wanted to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles and left my older siblings with my parents and the rest of the people they were dating. Apparently the other two guys were jealous that she’d had kids with my dad and not them, so there was a big fight and they both left. My mom stayed, because she liked my dad more than she was jealous of the other girl, and then my mom and dad got legally married so that raising kids would be easier.”

 

“And then you happened?” Dallon asked. Brendon nodded. “Yeah. It’s why I’m so much younger than my siblings; their mom had them all in college and my mom waited until she and dad were financially stable to have any kids.”

 

“That’s a lot different from my family.” Dallon said, because he didn’t know what else  _ to  _ say. Brendon rolled his eyes. “No shit. I usually just say that my dad had a girlfriend before he met my mom because people don’t ask as many questions then.”

 

“Am I going to have to meet your siblings too, or just the parents?” Dallon asked. Brendon glanced over at him, but it wasn’t long enough for Dallon to tell what his expression was supposed to be. Brendon tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel. “I mean, they’re all adults so they don’t live at home anymore, but it you really want to keep pretending to date me until Thanksgiving, you can meet them as my boyfriend. I don’t think you want to do that, though. It would start getting weird.”

 

“Yeah.” Dallon agreed, even though his heart sank at the thought of no longer fake dating Brendon. “I think I’ll pass.”

 

“But, hey, at least they haven’t brought out the baby pictures yet!” Brendon offered. He changed lanes and sped past a slow moving truck. “I was not a cute baby. I mean, my parents think so, but they literally made me happen so they kind of have to think that I’m cute, otherwise they’re just bad people.”

 

“I was a weird looking child.” Dallon said. Brendon nodded. “Yeah, I know. We used to go to church together, remember? Before my dad decided that forcing his children to believe in one religion was inhibiting our ability to grow as people and stopped taking us to church.”

 

“Oh yeah. You were a weird kid. You didn’t shut up at all and you were always running around.” Dallon said. He could remember tiny Brendon, with a bowl cut and tiny polo shirts that always ended up untucked from his khakis. Brendon didn’t hang around Dallon all the time, but Brendon’s parents and Dallon’s parents knew each other and would often have Sunday dinner together, meaning that Brendon and Dallon would be forced to the kids’ table with Brendon’s older siblings. Dallon wasn’t sure if he remembered right, but he was pretty sure that Brendon’s older siblings were assholes to him and Brendon. 

 

“My parents want me to go to church with you, actually.” Brendon said as he turned on to the street that he and Dallon lived on. “They’re sad that I haven’t found a religion that I like yet, and my mom’s convinced that it’s because I was attached to Mormon church and I’m silently rebelling from being pulled out of it.”

 

Dallon furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you?”

 

“No, I don’t believe in any God but I’m too nervous to tell my parents. They’re both really fucking spiritual.” Brendon said. He slowed down in front of Dallon’s house. “I can let you out here if you want, or you can go back to my parents and hope for the best?”

 

“I should probably shower and put on clothes that aren’t obviously yours first, but thanks.” Dallon said, and Brendon continued to his own house, parking his car in the driveway. Brendon stayed in the car once the engine was off, just staring up at the roof of his car. He turned his head towards Dallon after a few moments and smiled at him. “I wouldn’t actually mind going to church. With you. Again. That one time last year doesn’t count because I didn’t actually mean to go to church with you, I just said that as a way to get everyone out of my house and then you actually made me do it.”

 

“I know you didn’t mean it.” Dallon said, his mouth curling up into a smile even though he didn’t particularly mean for it to. “That’s why I made you go.”

  
“You’re an asshole.” Brendon said with affection in his voice as he shoved Dallon away. He was beautiful. Dallon was fucked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and please leave a kudos and/or comment if you liked it!


	9. The Speech

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homecoming is more stressful than it should be and Lindsey is pretty much a god at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is late. I was working on another thing and school happened at the same time and it was very stressful. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Getting ready for homecoming was stressful when Dallon actually wanted to impress someone and wasn’t just going so that he could hang out with his friends and not have a curfew. His mom kept trying to style his hair, but she was slicking it back so severely that he looked like a guy from the 1910s. Dallon wasn’t meant to be a guy from the 1910s. He was too gay for that, and besides, he didn’t wear suspenders even though Brendon was confident that he had a pair somewhere in his closet.  

 

“Mom, stop, I look dumb.” Dallon said, batting his mom’s hands away from his head. She frowned up at him, a bottle of hairspray in one hand and a comb in the other. “You look sharp, Dallon.”

 

“We have different definitions of sharp.” Dallon said. His mom frowned harder but Dallon wasn’t going to give in. He wasn’t going to show up to homecoming with dumb hair, because he didn’t want to embarrass himself (or Brendon) in front of the entire school. He was probably going to be embarrassed anyway, because of the sheer amount of gayness the band was about to create, but if he was going to be embarrassed by it all, he wanted to at least look good.

 

He hugged his mom and then grabbed his suit jacket from the edge of his bed. “I’m going to head over to Brendon’s. I’ll text you when it’s over.”

 

“Don’t be out too late.” She said to him, and he nodded (even though he would probably be out really late) and left. Brendon’s back door was open and Dallon let himself in, closing it behind him. He found Brendon and the Way siblings sitting in the living room, along with an uncomfortable looking blonde guy that Dallon recognised from somewhere. The blonde was sitting next to Gee, who was in a dress and heels but hadn’t done their hair or makeup yet and was instead holding a mug of coffee in their hands while talking to Brendon. Mikey was leaned against the arm of the couch, his socked feet tucked under Gee’s thigh and his signature beanie still on his head. He was texting. Brendon was sitting on a seperate chair, talking animatedly to Gee. 

 

“Am I early?” Dallon asked from the far side of the room. Brendon looked up at him. Brendon looked like sex on well-toned legs. He beamed up at Dallon. “Nope. We’re waiting on Lindsey and Hayley to get here and then I’m going to help them with their makeup.”

 

“Okay, cool.” Dallon said. “I don’t know how to do makeup.”

 

“I know babe, that’s why I’m doing it.” Brendon said, stretching out his legs and looking even more delectable (Dallon couldn’t believe that he was using  _ delectable _ to describe another person) than before. He gestured to the blonde boy. “This is Charlie, by the way. He’s head of the FCA and Gee’s date. Charlie, this is Dallon, my boyfriend.”

 

“Hey.” Dallon said, as Charlie’s eyes went wide with recognition. And then, of course, Dallon remembered where he knew Charlie from: youth group. Dallon had a sudden urge to grab Gee and run away with them because Charlie was not the most accepting guy in the world and Gee was pretty gay. Dallon had no idea how to tell Gee (or Brendon or Mikey) about Charlie without outing Gee or making things really awkward. He just had to hope that Charlie wouldn't be a complete asshole or try anything with Gee. 

 

Charlie was still staring at Dallon. “I didn't know you were gay. How can you go to church if you're gay?”

 

From behind his phone, Mikey rolled his eyes. Gee did the exact same thing. “Surprisingly enough, the Bible is ambiguous and up for interpretation about a lot of things, including whether or not gay people are loved by God. I'd give you an entire fucking essay on why you're wrong, but I'm trying to enjoy my senior homecoming without any issues.”

 

Well damn. Dallon had forgotten that Gee knew how to sass someone for being a dick. Maybe Dallon should be grabbing Charlie and running away with him before Gee handed Charlie's ass to him. Dallon immediately shot down that idea. Charlie deserved getting his ass handed to him, especially if it was by Gee, the school’s first transgender homecoming princess. 

 

Dallon sat down next to Brendon, letting Brendon rest his hand on his thigh because they were boyfriends in Charlie’s mind and if anyone deserved getting grossed out by sheer amounts of gay it would have to be Charlie. Dallon put his hand on top of Brendon's and squeezed gently. “Do you know when Hayley and Lindsey are supposed to be here?”

 

“Soon babe.” Brendon said, kissing Dallon's cheek. 

 

“So, uh, are Hayley and Lindsey your friends?” Charlie asked. Gee nodded. “Yeah, Lindsey’s actually homecoming queen.”

 

“She’s also the reigning queen of the gays.” Brendon added. Charlie stared at Brendon like Brendon was speaking a different language. Dallon was enjoying this far more than he should have been. Gee and Mikey were having a silent sibling conversation while Brendon silently dared Charlie to say something rude and Charlie struggled to understand what Brendon had just said. Apparently Charlie was one of the people who thought that only men could be gay because only men were sexual beings.  _ Jokes on you, Charlie,  _ Dallon thought,  _ Lindsey’s a girl and she’s probably had more sex than almost everyone in this room.  _ Dallon didn’t know how much sex either of the Way siblings had had, and he didn’t feel comfortable asking. 

 

Brendon’s doorbell rang before Charlie could come up with any kind of comment. Brendon stood up, kissing Dallon. “That’s them. I’ll be right back.”

 

Sure enough, Hayley and Lindsey were at the door, in their dresses and holding bags of makeup. Brendon looked far too excited about getting to do the girls’ and Gee’s makeup. He dragged them all upstairs to his bathroom (which was big and nice and had a tub; Dallon was a little jealous of the tub) and started pulling out brushes and curling irons. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and turned to the three. “Alright, who wants to go first?”

 

“Lindsey’s the queen.” Gee said. “She’s got to go first.”

 

“Fuck you, Gee.” Lindsey said, rolling her eyes, but she moved over and sat on the edge of the counter. It was weird seeing Lindsey without any kind of makeup, because she usually had on red lipstick and some kind of eye makeup, but she was a blank canvas for Brendon to go wild on. She tucked her long bangs back behind her ears and looked up at Brendon. “Don’t fuck this up, Brendon. I have to go out in front of a bunch of people I don’t know and I want them to know that I’m not to be fucked with.”

 

“So, a more dramatic version of your usual look?” Brendon asked, shuffling through her makeup. Lindsey shrugged. “Sure. You’re the makeup guru apparently.”

 

“I learned from the best.” Brendon said. “Now sit still and let me do my thing.”

 

* * *

 

Brendon was really good with hair and makeup, and he even touched up Dallon’s and Charlie’s hair (Mikey refused to let Brendon touch his head and kept his beanie firmly in place) before they all left to get dinner. The Toro’s restaurant was full of high school kids dressed in nice clothes, but the band got automatic reservations since Ray was the Toro’s son. 

 

Ray, Frank, Pete, and Andy were already at the table in the back, the one conveniently located away from all the noise of the front of the restaurant. Brendon looped his arm around Dallon’s waist. “Benefits of being friends of the owners, am I right?”

 

“You’d be such a dick if you were famous, wouldn’t you?” Dallon said back, but kissed Brendon because Charlie was watching them and because he wanted to kiss Brendon anyway. The two of them ended up at one end of the table, with Dallon next to Mikey and Brendon next to Andy. Mikey and Pete immediately became the gross domestic couple that everyone knew they were, and Gee rolled their eyes at their little brother and his boyfriend. Frank pressed his spoon against his lower lip. “So, Gee, who's the arm candy?”

 

“Charlie, he's a friend of one of the other girls on the court.” Gee said. Frank looked pleased. “So, not actually your boyfriend?”

 

Gee smiled down at the table, a faint blush showing through their foundation. “No, Frank, Charlie's not my boyfriend.”

 

“Why do you even care, dude? Aren't you gay?” Charlie frowned at Frank. Dallon suddenly realised that Charlie had no idea that Gee was non-binary, and thought that they were an actual cis girl. Kudos to Gee for passing as cis, but Dallon was worried that Gee would get hurt if Charlie figured out they weren't cis or a girl. 

 

Frank sat up in his chair, making him appear closer to average height. “I care because Gee’s my friend and I don’t want them ending up with some douchebag who won’t treat them right. Surprise, mother fucker, but gay people have feelings too, and they work just like the straights.”

 

“I didn’t say you didn’t have feelings, I just didn’t know why you were flirting with her if you’re gay.” Charlie said. Dallon nudged Brendon, who had pulled out his phone and was secretly filming the whole conversation. He was probably posting it straight to snapchat or something. Brendon had too many social media profiles. Dallon just had an Instagram that he never updated and the instagram only existed because Brendon wanted to be able to tag him in things. 

 

Dallon had turned off Instagram notifications two weeks after getting it. Pete Wentz had found Dallon’s profile and, well, it was Pete Wentz. Dallon really had no other option. 

 

“I wasn’t fucking  _ flirting _ with them! Just because a guy’s nice to someone doesn’t mean he’s trying to get into their pants.” Frank was halfway across the table and Ray was just giving Brendon’s camera a thumbs up. “Or did they not teach you that at Sunday School?”

 

“Oh, hey, Trick and Joe are here!” Pete said, cutting in before Frank could really get into it. He had probably been flirting with Gee, because when was Frank not flirting with Gee at this point? The group was lucky that Patrick and Joe had shown up then, dressed in suits and looking awkward (because of the suits) and holding hands as they took the last pair of chairs. There were more band members going to homecoming, but the Toros couldn’t just rent out their restaurant to the band and no one else. That, and Brendon said he wanted the band to spread the gay around as much as they could. 

 

A girl with her red hair in a tight bun came up and took their orders, complimenting everyone on how they looked. Frank still looked irritated, and Joe and Patrick were looking to Andy and Pete for answers. 

 

“Do you have a date?” Charlie asked Andy after everyone’s food had been served. Andy shook his head. “I don’t date. I play drums, though.”

 

“You don’t date… at all?” Charlie asked to clarify. Andy nodded again. “Yeah, I’m aroace. It means I don’t feel romantic or sexual attraction. It’s pretty great. I don’t have to deal with a lot of the drama that my friends deal with.”

 

Charlie frowned. Andy just went back to his dinner, which was vegan and actually called the Hurley special because Ray’s dad felt bad for not having any vegan options and had asked Andy for recommendations. It wasn’t exactly what Andy had come up with, but it looked pretty cool. Dallon wasn’t sure what was in it, but he wanted to try it one day. When he wasn’t about to go dance for four hours, in case veganism wasn’t for him and his stomach went  _ fuck those vegetables _ and gave up on him. 

 

Other than Charlie knowing absolutely nothing about the gay community (not that Dallon had expected anything else from him), dinner was fine. All the couples, real and fake and excluding Charlie and Gee, were grossly domestic and very gay. The food was good because it was the Toros’ restaurant and the food was always good there. Brendon tried to pay for Dallon’s dinner and Dallon almost stabbed him with his fork because just because Dallon didn’t have a lot of money to spend on his own didn’t mean he couldn’t  _ pay for his fucking meal, Brendon. _ Gee let Charlie pay for their meal but Dallon was pretty sure that was out of spite. 

 

Ray’s dad appeared out of nowhere as they were all leaving, dressed up in a chef’s outfit and holding a camera. A real polaroid camera. Dallon loved the Toros. They were fucking great. Ray buried his face in his hands as his dad got everyone to stand together and pose. “Oh my God, Dad, no.”

 

“It’s your senior year, Ray, I’m obligated to take as many pictures of you and your friends as I can.” He said. “Now put your arm around Frank and pretend that you’re actually in love with him.”

 

“I’m disowning myself.” Ray said, and put his arm around Frank’s shoulders. Frank wrapped his arms around Ray’s waist and proceeded to flutter his eyelashes and make kissy faces at Ray. Ray shoved Frank’s face away, both of them laughing anyway. Frank kept his arms around Ray but faced the camera, grinning as wide as he could. Dallon and Brendon leaned against each other, and Lindsey and Hayley were doing a bad prom pose. It was exactly the kind of picture that Dallon had been expecting, and Ray’s dad seemed to approve. 

 

“Alright, thanks for putting up with me.” He said, waving the polaroid out. “Now go and have fun, and don’t do anything too stupid.”

 

“I’m going to homecoming with Frank, Dad. I’ve already done something stupid.” Ray said. Frank elbowed him. “Fuck you.”

 

“Nah.” Ray said. “I think I'll keep my girlfriend instead.”

 

“Wait, he has a girlfriend? Then why is he going to homecoming with Frank?” Dallon heard Charlie ask Gee. Gee patted him on the cheek. “Oh, honey, you have so much to learn.”

 

* * *

 

The gym was decorated to look like a sparkly underwater paradise, because the theme was Under the Sea for some reason. Dallon took Brendon's arm and the two of them walked through the glittery pastel streamers and into the dance floor. The music was loud and top 40, and there were rainbow flashing lights coming from the DJ station on the side of the gym. There was a mob of people in front of the DJ, dancing and grinding on each other as high schoolers tended to do. There were also a lot of people over by the refreshments, which made Dallon think that the punch had already been spiked. Impressive, considering that the dance had only been going for about thirty minutes. 

 

“Wanna dance, pretty boy?” Brendon shouted over the music, a smirk on his face. He was gorgeous. There was no way Dallon could say no, and so that was how he found himself in a throng of people, jumping up and down while chest to chest with Brendon and trying not to get hit in the nose by the top of Brendon's head. 

 

Pete showed up in the mess of people eventually, eyeliner applied thickly and with a bored looking Mikey Way in tow. Mikey had lost the beanie and suit jacket, and Pete's tie was nowhere to be seen. Dallon figured they'd been making out in the bathroom. Pete was just as enthusiastic as Brendon, if not more, but what surprised Dallon the most was that Mikey was into the dancing as well, jumping and moving against Pete. 

 

Brendon pulled Dallon in close, moving his hips against Dallon’s and pressing his face into Dallon’s neck. It was kind of hot. Dallon tried to think about things that were not Brendon related at all, like Gee stepping on Charlie’s dick with the heel of their shoe. Or Dallon’s grandmother asking about furries. Or furries in general because that was just weird and a part of the internet Dallon wished he had never found. But Brendon was persistent, tugging at the ends of Dallon’s hair and whispering in his ear to “play along, Dildo, we’re supposed to be horny gay teenagers but you look like you’re being held hostage.”

 

Dallon grabbed Brendon’s jaw and pulled him up for a kiss while splaying his other hand across Brendon’s lower back. After they parted the kiss, Dallon kept his forehead pressed against Brendon’s. “I am being held hostage, in a way. This was your idea, and I’m not really out yet--I mean, I will be after this is over, but I wasn’t before. This whole being gay in public thing is new to me, and it’s especially weird because we’re not actually dating.”

 

Something shifted in Brendon’s face, and then he was staring straight at Dallon, big brown eyes looking shy and innocent for once in his life. “Dallon, about that. I was thinking that after this--”

 

Whatever Brendon was going to tell Dallon got cut off by the music suddenly getting really loud and spotlights coming up over the DJ station. Brendon pulled back from Dallon, leaving significant space between them, and Dallon wondered if he had been doing something wrong this entire time and Brendon had just been looking for a way out. Dallon placed his hands in his pocket and watched as the student council president came out and reannounced the homecoming court, up to the senior class princesses and the queen. When he announced Lindsey’s name, she came up on stage with Hayley on her arm and Hayley gestured for her to take the microphone.

 

The student council president grinned out to the crowd. “And now, our homecoming queen will make a short speech, as is customary. Lindsey, the floor is yours.”

 

Lindsey let go of Hayley and stepped forward. She looked stunning but sharp, like she was hiding a sword under the slit of her dress, and knives in the toes of her shoes. She took the mic from the student council president and flicked her hair from her face. “Hi. I’m Lindsey, as we established already, and I didn’t plan to become homecoming queen. I haven’t been waiting my whole life for this moment, and I didn’t really plan a speech. What I did plan was a revolution, kind of. I didn’t plan it on my own, though, and I didn’t plan it against the teachers, or the staff or the school board who keep giving us standardised tests. I planned it against some of you.”

 

A gasp went out throughout the crowd. Lindsey glanced over at Brendon and Dallon and then continued. “I’m gay. It’s not a big secret, since I came here with my girlfriend and I’m the reason that last year’s cheer squad was gay as shi--really gay. I’m lucky, because no one’s thrown me into a locker, or kicked me out of their friend group, or beaten me up because I of my sexuality. My friends aren’t as lucky, and I’m going to use this five minute bullshit platform to say this: if you want to hurt someone for being gay, or transgender, or whatever the fuck else you have a problem with, you come through me. You come through me, and then you come through the cheer squad because they are still my friends and they will back me. You come through me, and then you come through the band--and we’ve got some heavy ass instruments--and then you sit back and think about your life. Because here’s the thing: there is nothing wrong with me liking another girl. There is nothing wrong with a guy liking another guy, or someone’s gender not matching up with their genitals, and it’s none of your business anyway.”

 

She had been scanning the crowd as she spoke, eyes narrowed and dangerous, like she was about to pull out her theoretical sword and go off. As she finished, though, she was staring straight at Dallon and he felt like Lindsey was pulling all of his secrets out of him. “And to anyone out there who is closeted, or pining on a crush they think they’ll never have a chance with: go for it. Be yourself, ask that person out for real, punch your bully in the face. It’s homecoming. It’s the cheaper version of prom and it’s the best shot you’ll get at making this year memorable.”

 

Lindsey dropped the mic to the floor and it made a lot of ugly noise as she walked off the stage, taking Hayley’s arm and disappearing into the crowd. Dallon could still see her, though, and she looked back at him as she mingled in with Gee and the other princesses. She nodded to him, and Dallon knew it. That last part of her speech had been a direct demand. 

  
Dallon turned around to get Brendon’s attention, but Brendon was gone. Dallon frowned. “Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading; please leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed it!


	10. The Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is revealed through Brendon's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for how long this took, amongst other things.

Brendon was well and truly fucked, and it wasn’t in the fun way where he was bruised all over and felt great. No, he was an idiot, and in love with his best friend, who he was fake dating and had almost confessed his feelings to. At homecoming, because Brendon’s timing was incredible. He had fled immediately afterwards, embarrassed and panicking and just generally regretting all of his life choices that had led him to this point in his life. He needed an out, because he didn't want to fuck up his friendship with Dallon and he knew that coming clean about his feelings would do that. 

 

Brendon had never been able to act cool and collected around people he actually liked. If he found someone attractive, he could flirt with them and get them to think he liked them, but only if he didn't have any romantic feelings for them. It had been like that with Ryan at summer drama camp in middle school, and it was like that now with Dallon. Brendon was not as suave as he appeared. He was actually a huge fucking idiot who ran away from his feelings and just hoped that the other person involved would do something first. 

 

So far, Dallon hadn't done anything. He had also made it obvious that even though he was gay, he wasn't gay for Brendon and had no interest in a real relationship. That meant that Brendon needed to move on, and fast, before anyone could realise that he was crushing on Dallon and make things awkward. 

 

Brendon was currently hiding in the guy's bathroom and hoping no one would come looking for him. He hoped everyone would be too busy with their other friends to come looking for him. He hoped that  _ Dallon _ would be too busy with his other friends.

 

There was a loud slamming noise, and Brendon realised that he was no longer alone in the bathroom. Carefully, he peeked through the break in the door, and saw that there were three guys. They were pretty, but not jocks or overly religious Christian boys. They also looked to straight to be in drama. All the gay kids ended up in either band, drama, or art. The drama boys were the prettiest (except Dallon), the band guys were the weirdest and generally the most emo, and the art guys were just weird. 

 

“What kind of bitch dumps her boyfriend on homecoming?” One of the guys said. 

 

“The kind of bitch you were dating.” The other one said. “She probably dumped you to go get double dick from those two fags. I’m pretty sure I saw her hooking up with them at the party yesterday.”

 

“What the hell? Why would Sarah dump me for them?” The first one said, sounding confused and enraged. Brendon felt like he was going to die, because he realised that the fags (and how he hated that word) in question were him and Dallon, and Sarah was his drama friend who had planned to dump her boyfriend anyway. Her boyfriend, whose name was Luke and was tall and stronger than Brendon and could probably beat Brendon up if he wanted to. Brendon wished he was anywhere but this bathroom, but he knew that couldn’t happen. He was trapped, in here, possibly forever. He might even die in here, because the two guys could decide to come back to where the stalls were and start kicking them open. 

 

Brendon bit down on his lower lip. He just needed to stay calm, and hopefully they would go away.

 

“I mean, you’ve got a dick, but the fags have two dicks.” Not Luke said. “She’s probably just a cockslut or something.”

 

“But fags don’t like chicks.” Luke said. “That’s why they’re called fags.”

 

If Gee were here with Brendon, they’d be bursting out of the stall to correct those assholes and call them out for using a slur. Gee wasn’t there, of course, because there was no plausible reason for Gee and Brendon to be hanging out in a bathroom stall. Gee didn’t even use the guy’s bathroom half of the time. They tried to avoid public bathrooms (for obvious reasons), and Brendon was beginning to understand their reasons. 

 

“Yeah, but--” 

 

“Brendon? Are you in here?” That was Dallon’s voice. Brendon wanted to scream at him to get the fuck out immediately, but he couldn’t say anything because he was kind of trying to hide from Dallon. But at the same time… Brendon didn’t want Dallon to get hurt. 

 

“Oh shit.” A girl’s voice said, quieter than Dallon’s. Brendon recognised it as Sarah’s voice. Brendon wanted to leave, immediately. He wanted to take Dallon and Sarah with him. He wanted to be better at this, whatever it was. He wanted to not be in love with Dallon. He didn’t know what he wanted. 

 

“Really?” Luke’s voice said, angry and dangerous and making Brendon feel small even though he wasn’t really involved at all. “First you steal my girl, and then you come in here looking for your fucking boyfriend so you both can take her? What the fuck is wrong with you, man?”

 

“I didn’t--” Dallon started, and then there was a loud crack that made Brendon wince and Sarah scream. There was scuffling, another crack, Sarah’s screaming not muffled, and nothing from Dallon. Brendon’s heart was pounding. He was frozen in place. He needed to move. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get Dallon, and Sarah, and get out of here. He could drive them both home and then text Gee and apologise for bailing early. He could do that, but he couldn’t move, and he could still hear the unfortunately familial sound of a fist meeting flesh, and a fist hitting bone and breaking it. And Sarah was still trying to scream, and the other guy was calling her all kinds of names for fighting back, and Brendon was pretty sure he was the worst person in the world because he couldn’t reach forward and unlock the bathroom stall. 

 

It went on for what felt like forever, but eventually Luke and his friend gave up on Dallon and left, with a final warning. “Don’t touch what isn’t yours, you fuck. And tell that to your fucking boyfriend.”

 

The bathroom was silent. Dangerously silent. Brendon’s face was damp because apparently he had started crying at some point. He was just that terrified. Without thinking, he let out a sharp sobbing noise, and then immediately clapped his hand over his mouth, his heart rate speeding up again. He prayed to whoever was listening that Sarah hadn’t heard him. 

 

“Hello?” Sarah called out, her voice shaky like she’d been crying too. “Who’s there?”

 

Brendon wanted to die immediately. He didn’t respond, and he kept his hand over his mouth even as he heard the tell tale click of heels on cheap tile as Sarah came towards the stalls. Belatedly, Brendon realised that he could just crawl under the gap between his stall and the next and avoid being noticed by Sarah, but it was too late now and she was in front of his stall. He could see her feet, clad in silver heels with cute little ribbons on the toes. She tapped on the door with her knuckles. “Hello? Look, I know you’re in there. Can you at least call an ambulance? My friend is really hurt.”

 

_ Oh, God. _ Brendon thought. He also thought he was going to be sick.  _ What if I got Dallon killed? I should have done something. _

 

Sarah knocked on the door again. “I’m sorry for asking you to do this, whoever you are, but could you please--”

 

Brendon reached out an unlocked the door, letting it swing inward towards him. Sarah was on the other side, her makeup smeared and half washed away, her hair half down and looking very messed up, and some blood on her hands.  _ Dallon’s blood. _ Her face went from worried, to surprised, to pissed the fuck off. She tightened her fingers into a fist. “Call the ambulance,  _ Brendon _ .”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Call the ambulance.” Sarah snapped. He’d never seen her so angry in his life. Brendon pulled out his phone and did as she said. He was afraid to go over and look at Dallon, so when the operator asked what had happened, he just handed his phone over to Sarah and stared down at his shoes. He felt like an idiot. He felt like a complete and total idiot, and like this whole thing was all his fault. Nothing and no one would be able to convince him otherwise.

 

* * *

 

Since he and Sarah were there in the bathroom when the EMTs arrived, they got to ride in the ambulance with Dallon. Dallon looked worse than Frank had ever gotten last year, when everyone was getting beaten up left and right for their sexuality. Sarah alternated between looking at Brendon like he had been the one to attack Dallon and worriedly looking over Dallon even as the EMTs checked him out and said that he would be fine. A concussion and some broken or fractured bones, probably, but nothing permanent. One of the EMTs said that there would most likely be police officers at the hospital and that they would be asking Sarah and Brendon about what happened.

 

Sarah sat up straight and glared across at Brendon, her big blue eyes sharp and icy now. “If you out him more than you already have, I will make sure that these nice people have  _ your _ body to deal with. It’s bad enough that you pulled him along and played with his feelings. The least you could have done was not let him get beaten up.”

 

“I’ll make sure nothing else happens to him.” Brendon said quietly, barely audible over the sounds of the ambulance. Sarah glared harder and leaned forward, dangerously close to falling out of her seat. “No. You’ll stay away from Dallon, because he deserves someone better than you. He deserves people who will actually back him up when he needs it, and not just to show off to the school to try and make yourself look like a hero.”

 

“I wasn’t trying to be a hero.” Brendon wasn’t sure why he was arguing with her. He just wanted to apologise to Dallon, or go back in time and stop Luke and his friend from hurting Dallon. 

 

“Really? Because from what Dallon told me, you were trying to become some kind of gay vigilante with Lindsey and turn your junior year into some kind of shitty young adult romance novel.” Sarah said. Brendon stared at her, not sure if he was angry or defensive or what. Sarah’s eyes flicked to Dallon’s face, and his closed eyes. Her expression softened and Brendon thought he saw her chin wobble a little. “He liked you. He was trying to find you to tell you that he liked you, and then you couldn’t even say anything.”

 

“Dallon likes me?” Brendon said, not believing the words even as they came out of his mouth and Sarah turned back to looking at him like he was the piece of gum stuck to the underside of a desk. “ _ Liked _ you. I’m not going to tell Dallon you were there the whole time, because I don’t want to manipulate him into being pissed off at you like I am, but someone will eventually. You might want to do it yourself, not that it’ll soften the blow or anything. He’s not going to be impressed that you didn’t even try to stop them. I don’t think he’ll like you much after that.”

 

“You’re right.” Brendon said, defeated. So Dallon liked him, and Brendon had fucked that up. He’d probably killed their friendship as well, but he was okay with that. Dallon deserved better friends than him. Sarah was a good friend; he’d do his best to make sure that she and Dallon got along without him.

 

* * *

 

Sarah and Brendon each gave their statements to the police, mentioning that Dallon being gay had probably been a factor but that he was in the closet and could they not make a big deal about it being a hate crime? The officer that Brendon spoke with agreed that he would gloss over Dallon’s sexuality in any press statements he might have to make about the case. After Brendon was let go, he went off to find Ray, because he needed to talk to Ray alone.

 

Ray, as well as most of his other band friends, was in the waiting room. They were all still in their homecoming gear, some of them sitting and some of them pacing around. Ray looked up first, because he somehow always knew when people were in need of his services. When Brendon didn’t immediately walk over to the group, Ray got up and walked over to him. There was a look of concern on his face. “Are you okay? Did something happen to Dallon?”

 

“I need you to tell Dallon something.” Brendon said. Ray frowned. “Brendon, are you sure you want to do this now? You’re in shock, he’s probably out of it--”

 

“I need you to tell him that I was there.” Brendon said, cutting Ray off because Ray had been thinking that Brendon wanted to confess his feelings to Dallon. That wasn’t the case. Brendon wanted to leave Dallon behind, because he was not the best for Dallon and Dallon deserved the best. “I was in the bathroom, the whole time Dallon was getting beat up and Sarah was being restrained. And I just sat there and let it happen. I didn’t get up, or say anything. I was just listening, and he needs to know that.”

 

Ray’s face fell. “Brendon…”

 

“I’m sorry, of course, I’m not that much of a dick,” Brendon managed to get out a short laugh, but it was wet and it sounded like the beginning of a break down. “But I fucked up, and I don’t want…”

 

Fuck. Brendon couldn’t do this. He swallowed. “I don’t want to be around him anymore. I’m not a good influence on him, he brings out the worst in me… it’s just not healthy. Can you tell him that?”

 

“I’ll tell him that you were in there.” Ray said. Brendon couldn’t read his expression at all. “If he wants the rest, he can come find you.”

 

“Okay.” Brendon said. “Thanks, Ray. You’re a good guy.”

 

Brendon patted Ray on the shoulder and then he walked out of the room. His first thought was to go hide in a bathroom and break down there, but he remembered the last time he had had emotions in a bathroom and decided against it. Instead, he headed to the back parking lot behind the hospital and just sat down on the edge of the sidewalk. It was one in the morning. Brendon had just ruined Dallon’s senior homecoming, as well as all of his friends’, all because he couldn’t open his fucking mouth for once in his life. 

  
Brendon dropped his head into his hands, and he finally started to cry, his sobs and breaths filling the still night air around the hospital. He was alone, but he figured he deserved it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, I'm going to assume that no one /enjoyed/ this, but feel free to yell at me in the comments or whatever. 
> 
> I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me.


	11. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dallon makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad for ending on the worst cliff hanger ever, so here's the final chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it?

Dallon woke up to bright lights and a bunch of worried faces looking down at him. It took him a moment to realise where he was, and that this wasn’t the first time he had fallen back into consciousness. It was just the first time that he felt real enough to stay awake. It still took him a while to figure out where he was, though. He felt fuzzy and sore. 

 

His parents were on one side of the bed, and Sarah was on the other side. Most of his other friends were standing around the room as nurses moved around. The nurses looked irritated, probably because of how many people were trying to fit themselves into the small room. The small hospital room, that Dallon was laying in, because he was injured. He looked down at his body, his chest bandaged and his right arm in a cast. He was breathing through his mouth because his nose felt like it had been put on backwards. Dallon tentatively licked his lips. “So, I guess this means I’m not going to be marching any more this season.”

 

“Oh, baby,” his mom said, and moved forward to softly touch his cheek. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We got a call from the police, saying you’d been attacked…”

 

“Do you remember what happened?” Sarah asked quietly. There was a haunted look in her eyes, like she had seen some serious shit. Dallon nodded, slowly, because everything still kind of hurt. He remembered going after Brendon and finding Sarah instead, then heading to the bathroom and finding Sarah’s ex instead of Brendon. Of course, that was when it all went to shit and Dallon got attacked because apparently he and Brendon were stealing Sarah. It wasn’t like Sarah made her own decisions and decided that she didn’t want to date Luke anymore. No, that would be ridiculous and would imply that women could think for themselves. 

 

“The police said that they’re looking for the two boys who did this to you and Sarah.” Dallon’s dad said. Dallon turned to Sarah. “Wait, they didn’t hurt you, did they?”

 

“Not really. I’ll probably just have bruises on my arms from where Jackson held me back.” Sarah said. “That was the other guy. He was Luke’s friend.”

 

Dallon nodded. The next few hours of his life were a blur of everyone apologising to him and him saying that it wasn’t their fault. Dallon also had to explain to his parents that he wasn’t dating Sarah and that they were only friends. He didn’t mention Brendon at all. He didn’t know where Brendon was, which worried him. Maybe Brendon had left homecoming early, and just hadn’t heard what happened to Dallon? That didn’t make sense, though, because Dallon’s parents were here and all of his other friends were. One of them must have considered texting Brendon to let him know what had happened to Dallon. 

 

Brendon would be so pissed to find out that no one had told him about this. Brendon liked knowing everything that was going on. 

 

Eventually, Dallon got tired and everyone else realised that they’d been up for almost thirty-six hours and started to slump as well. Dallon promised his parents he’d be fine alone in the hospital, and so they left. He meant to ask someone about Brendon, but he was too tired and under too many pain meds to verbalise it. He fell back asleep, and when he woke up again, a nurse was sitting beside him and taking notes on his vitals. She noticed he was awake before Dallon could ask her anything, and offered him a warm smile. “Good morning, Mr. Dallon Weekes. How’re you feeling?”

 

“Sore.” Dallon admitted. “But it could be a lot worse.”

 

The nurse nodded. She paused what she was doing for a moment and bit her lip. Dallon just watched her, because he didn’t have anything better to do. She wrote another few things down and then turned back to him. “I heard that some people are calling it a hate crime. I don’t know if that’s true, but either way, I’m sorry that happened to you. I doubt you deserved it.”

 

“I don’t think I did.” Dallon said. “I didn’t steal Sarah from her boyfriend. She’d already planned on breaking up with him because he was a jerk to her.”

 

Dallon chose to ignore the words  _ hate crime _ . Part of him hoped that that was the angle that the police and whoever else took, because then maybe the homophobia at Belleville High would come to light. The other part of him hoped that that wasn’t what was going on at all, because if Dallon was labelled as a victim of a hate crime, then he would be outed as gay, and Dallon wasn’t ready for that. He was, surprisingly, afraid to come out even though he had been pretending to be Brendon’s boyfriend for the past month and a half. 

 

Dallon remembered all the shit that had gone down last year, and how horrible it had been for everyone. Dallon hadn’t come out then, but he had still been on the receiving end of some violence. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Brendon or Frank or Gee, all of whom had been out as not-straight and had had to deal with violence and aggression pretty much every day. 

 

No wonder Brendon had acted so quickly when those slurs were found on the band room doors. It must have been a reminder of the previous year, and how shitty everything had gotten before Lindsey stepped in and turned the cheerleaders gay. This whole fake dating thing, and turning homecoming gay, it had all been a preemptive strike on Brendon’s part. He must have been terrified, thinking of how bad it would get if he didn’t do anything. Dallon wanted to find him, and tell him that he was brave, or valiant, or whatever validation Brendon needed. 

 

Shit, Dallon just wanted to see Brendon, because he hadn’t since Brendon had disappeared at homecoming. 

 

He didn’t get to see Brendon for the next few days, because he was stuck in the hospital. He was visited a lot. His mom came in during the day and worried over him, and Dallon had to keep reminding her that he was okay and he wasn’t in any danger or dying or anything like that. He did appreciate the love, though. It was nice to know that he mattered and that his parents cared about him.

 

He was also visited by his dad, and one of his two older sisters, who freaked out over him almost as much as his mom had. He assured her that he was fine, and (when their dad was asking the nurse a question) asked her if their parents knew she was skipping class. She rolled her eyes and told Dallon that he was more important that psychology 360 and that she had friends in that class who could give her notes anyway. 

 

Lindsey and Gee (and Mikey) came in on Tuesday evening and Lindsey started blurting out apologies as soon as she stepped into the room. Gee was right behind her, biting at the edge of their thumbnail and looking incredibly apologetic as well. Dallon let Lindsey get out everything she felt was necessary before he sat up (slowly, because even though he was getting better, he was still sore and in a lot of pain) and said, “hey, it’s not your fault. I agreed to be a part of your plan, remember? You and Brendon both made sure I was okay with half coming out about seven thousand times, so it’s not your fault. I consented to this.”

 

“You consented to parading around as Brendon’s homecoming date, not getting beaten half to death in a school bathroom!” Lindsey exclaimed, and she looked really distraught. Gee wrapped their arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her hair. From the door, Mikey said, “there were a bunch of ambulances, dude. And, like, EMTs running in and flashing lights and everything. Someone even started a rumour that you’d been stabbed.”

 

Dallon stared at him, because sometimes he couldn’t tell when Mikey was being serious. “Wait, really? People thought I got stabbed?”

 

“It was a rumour.” Mikey said, at the same time that Gee said, “no one really knew what happened, because Sarah and Brendon went straight from the bathroom where they found you to the ambulance, and they both looked shell-shocked. We were all really scared.”

 

“Shit.” Dallon said, softly. “I’m sorry.”

 

Lindsey lifted her head from Gee’s shoulder to glare harshly at him. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Dallon. You got beat up in a bathroom. In a  _ boy’s bathroom _ , which is probably the third most disgusting place to be in, ever. None of us saw this coming, and so no one can really be blamed. Except for, like, me and Brendon but that’s only because homecoming wouldn’t have been gay without us.”

 

“It’s not your fault either.” Dallon said. “Like you said, no one saw this coming.”

 

Lindsey still looked a little guilty, but she let the topic go and instead pulled the Way siblings into the hospital room so that they could all tell Dallon what he had been missing for the past two days. Apparently, school had turned into a really interesting place, because there were police cars everywhere and occasionally a local news van would show up and the news people would try to get students to talk about what had happened. Nothing much happened in Belleville, so Dallon getting beaten up to the point that he needed to go to the hospital was big news and was being milked for everything it had. 

 

“They’re still trying to make it sound like you got beaten up for being gay,” Gee said. They picked at the black paint on one of their nails. “We’re trying to make sure you don’t get outed, because that’s fucking rude. Outing someone just for a good story isn’t okay.”

 

“Thanks, guys.” Dallon said. “I really appreciate it.”

 

* * *

 

Dallon was let out of the hospital on Wednesday, but the doctor told his parents that he would need to have bed rest for a while to make sure that his ribs (five of which were broken or fractured) could have time to heal. He slept a lot once he got home, waking up only to bathe, accept his homework from whichever friend brought it over, or to take his meds and try to eat something. It got boring after a while, and Dallon started asking his mom if he could go back to school. 

 

She frowned, a concerned look on her face. “I don’t know, honey. What if they let that boy go and he comes after you again?”

 

“He won’t.” Dallon promised. “I have friends at school, mom. They won’t let anything happen to me.”

 

“What, like how both Brendon and Sarah didn’t let anything happen to you at homecoming?” Dallon’s mom crossed her arms over her chest. Dallon resisted the urge to roll his eyes because that would only get him into more trouble. “Mom, the other guy was holding Sarah back. She couldn’t do anything. And Brendon wasn’t even there to begin with… me and Sarah were looking for him when I got, you know. Attacked.”

 

Dallon’s mom frowned even more. “Honey, Brendon was in the ambulance with you and Sarah. He was the one to make the call.”

 

Dallon stared at her. That didn’t make sense; Sarah would have mentioned Brendon being with her in the ambulance, because Sarah knew how Dallon felt about Brendon. Dallon had told her everything while they were looking for him, because he was nervous and not thinking straight. Now he was wondering if something else had happened that night, and there was a reason Dallon hadn’t seen Brendon in days. Dallon didn’t mention that to his mom, because he didn’t want her to think that anything was wrong. 

 

Eventually, he convinced her to let him go back to school the next Monday, assuming he was well enough to go to church with his parents on Sunday. Dallon said he would, and he meant it because he didn’t hate church, unlike nearly every other teen he knew. Sarah texted him in the middle of the service, and Dallon tried checking his phone but his dad nudged him and pointedly stared at Dallon’s phone. Dallon locked his phone and put it back into his pocket, wishing he had use of his right hand so that he could try and text without his parents noticing. 

 

He liked church, but that didn’t mean he liked listening to an elderly man croak on about sin and Jesus for an hour. Dallon could think of better things to listen to on Sunday mornings. As nerdy as it would make him sound, he liked the church music that the choir sang. It sounded pretty. 

 

He checked his phone for real on the car ride home, to see a message from Sarah asking if she could come over. After confirming with his parents that she could (so long as Dallon kept the door to his room completely open), Dallon texted her back with an affirmative. She arrived at his house about ten minutes after he did, and so she came up to his room while Dallon was still in his church clothes. Dallon kept the door open and offered Sarah his desk chair. She took it, and sat there swaying back and forth while Dallon took off his shoes with one hand. Once his shoes were off, he stretched his toes out. “So, why'd you need to see me?”

 

“I think I may have made a mistake.” Sarah said. Dallon looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Brendon was there, in the bathroom when you got attacked. He was hiding in one of the stalls, and when I found him I was still freaking out because you were unconscious and bleeding on the floor and I… fuck, Dallon, I yelled at him and I basically called him the worst person ever.”

 

“Well, I mean, he  _ did _ stay back and not do anything.” Dallon said. He felt weird, uncomfortable. Sarah shook her head. “No, no, you don’t get it. What I said to him was out of line. I talked to one of your friends--Ray--and he told me that what happened to you was a normal occurance last year, and that Brendon had been one of the victims.”

 

“No one went to the hospital last year.” Dallon said. He frowned a little. “Except for Frank, but he was fighting back a lot.”

 

Sarah pressed her hands against her face. “Dallon. Dallon, what happened to you probably gave Brendon flashbacks to last year or something like that. He wasn’t hiding because he didn’t care about you, he was hiding because he was fucking  _ terrified _ of what was going on. And I came up to him immediately after and said he was a horrible friend and that you were better off without him. That’s why I’m sorry, and that’s why I feel like I messed up.”

 

“Is that why I haven’t seen Brendon anywhere?” Dallon asked. Sarah nodded. “Probably. Please don’t be mad at me.”

 

“I’m not.” Dallon said. “You were just scared. You were both scared, and you weren’t thinking clearly. It happens.”

 

Sarah nodded. She chewed on her bottom lip. “Can I hug you?”

 

“Of course.” Dallon said. Sarah got up and walked over, gingerly wrapping her arms around him so that she wouldn’t injure him any more than he already was. While they were hugging, Dallon’s face pressed against the top of her head, she made him promise to go and talk to Brendon. She didn’t say anything about Dallon telling Brendon that he liked him, which Dallon appreciated. He would see how reuniting with Brendon went, and then decide if he wanted to confess his feelings as well. It wasn’t as though their friendship could get any weirder than it was right now.

 

* * *

 

Dallon stood at Brendon’s back door, his right arm in a sling and up against his chest and his nose still healing. He knocked with his left arm, and hear Brendon’s dog barking, followed by Brendon barking back at the dog. Brendon was a dork. Dallon smiled a little, thinking about Brendon. There were a few more barks exchanged between Brendon and his dog, and then Dallon heard the sound of a door unlocking and he was face to face with Brendon. 

 

Brendon’s hair was mussed and he was in a tank top and sweatpants. He looked like he had been up for a while, but hadn’t planned on doing anything to make himself look presentable. Dallon was okay with that; it made Brendon seem less intimidating. He was still unexplainably pretty, and Dallon was a little distracted by him. Brendon’s eyes widened when he realised Dallon was at his door, and opened his mouth to say something. Probably apologise. Dallon didn’t give him the chance.

 

“I’m not mad at you.” He said. Brendon frowned. “But I let them hurt you.”

 

“They would have hurt you too.” Dallon said. That was probably true. “At least this way, Luke and his friend’ll probably get expelled, or maybe put in jail. You got your point across, too, because everyone at school knows it was a hate crime even if the news won’t be taking it that way. Those dicks won’t bother any of us again; they’ll know they can’t get away with it.”

 

“I don’t care about them, or my point.” Brendon said. “I just care about you, and I let you down.”

 

“But you didn’t.” Dallon said.

 

“But I  _ did _ . If I were a better person I would have stopped them.”

 

“Brendon.” Dallon said, because he needed to just be blunt and get his point across. “You don’t need to be a better person. You’re great the way you are, and I’m very okay with calling you my friend.”

 

“Really?” Brendon asked, looking like he still wasn’t believing what Dallon was saying. “You still want to be my friend? After all the shit I put you through, with the fake dating and the scary exes and getting beaten up in a bathroom?”

 

Dallon shrugged, and his heart skipped a beat as he decided to just fucking go for it. “Yeah. The fake dating was pretty great, actually.”

 

Brendon furrowed his eyebrows. Dallon was so nervous he felt like he was going to throw up a little. He didn’t. He gave Brendon a little smile and asked, “do you wanna do it for real this time?”

 

“Date you?”

 

Dallon nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“Yeah.” Brendon breathed out. “Yeah, I do.”

 

He pulled Dallon into his house, leaving the door open and letting his dog out into the backyard on accident. Brendon pressed his lips to Dallon’s, and Dallon kissed back, placing his left hand on Brendon’s waist. Brendon pulled them closer, moving his face a little, and a sharp pain shot up Dallon’s nose. Dallon pulled back, his hand going up to his nose immediately to make sure he wasn’t bleeding or anything. Brendon looked up at him, eyes wide and scared. “What did I do?”

 

Dallon took his hand off of his nose. “Nose. It’s still tender, so… we just need to be careful.”

 

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, shit.” Brendon said, and tentatively reached up to touch Dallon’s nose with the tips of his fingers. Dallon barely felt it, and kissed Brendon’s fingers before he could pull them away completely. The two boys made eye contact again, and Brendon broke out into a grin. “You’re my boyfriend.”

 

“That I am.” Dallon said, smiling back as well. “We’re going to have to be kind of quiet about it, though, because I’m not ready for my parents to know yet.”

 

“I’m okay with that.” Brendon said. He leaned up and kissed Dallon’s cheek. “I don’t mind keeping quiet.”

 

“Oh, no, we’re not going to be completely quiet.” Dallon said. Brendon raised an eyebrow, and Dallon kissed his forehead. “The band’s gonna know. We’re going to be the obnoxious gay couple that everyone secretly hates.”

  
“Pete and Mikey can kiss our ass.” Brendon said, and let out a laugh. He looked happy. Dallon hoped he looked happy as well, because he sure as hell  _ felt _ happy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, please leave a kudo or comment if you liked it!


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